Wait Till Helen Comes: A Ghost Story Graphic Novel

Peterson, Scottt, Meredith Laxton, and Russ Badgett. Wait Till Helen Comes: A Ghost Story Graphic Novel. 2022. 160p. ISBN 9780358536895. Available in the graphic novels section of the library.

Molly and Michael have not been very happy since their mother remarried. Dave, their new stepfather, came with a young daughter of his own. At seven, Heather has already been through a lot. A house fire when she was three killed her mother. Heather is very manipulative, and Molly's parents always take Heather's side. 

When the family moves out of Baltimore and into an old church next to a graveyard, Molly is ill at ease. She feels the presence of a ghost, and Heather has been acting even more mean than before. With their parents involved in their respective art projects, and with Michael not believing in ghosts, Molly is as lonely as she's ever been.

Heather seems to have fallen under Helen's spell, a young girl who died a century ago in a house fire. Helen wants Heather to join her in the palace of mermaids. As Helen's malevolent intentions create havoc on her family, it's up to Molly to stop Helen, before it's too late...

Silver in the Bone

 Bracken, Alexandra. Silver in the Bone. Book 1 of the Silver in the Bone series. 2023. 480p. ISBN 9780593481653.

Unlike all of the people she knows, Tamsin has no magical abilities to speak of. This unfortunate circumstance makes her chosen profession especially difficult, as breaking into ancient burial sites looking for magical treasures also sought by sorceresses and faeries puts her at a clear disadvantage. Thankfully her younger brother Cabell is able to see the magical threads that link objects and people, which facilitates their job.

Abandoned by their foster father, who disappeared one night after stealing a powerful Arthurian ring rumored to be able to break the curse of lycanthrope that affects Cabell, the two of them had to fend for themselves. Now ten years later, Tamsin hears rumors that the ring is back in play, and that a powerful sorceress seeks it. Tamsin receives a comtract to find the fabled ring, only to discover that her erstwhile enemy, Emrys, is also looking for the ring.

Forced to unite their abilities for the time being due to the swarm of other seekers also looking for the ring, Tamsin, Cabell and Emrys track the last whereabouts of her foster father, only to stumble upon the Arthurian lands themselves through a gate. But the sickness that has taken over these lands threatens not only that kingdom, but also their present. With danger and treachery swirling around her, Tamsin's lack of magical abilities may in fact be her greatest strength ...

Took: A Ghost Story

Peterson, Scott, Jen Vaughn, and Hank Jones. Took: A Ghost Story. 2022. 160p. ISBN 9780358536871. Available in the graphic novels section of the library.

The impacts of an economic recession force Daniel's family to move from Connecticut to West Virginia, where Daniel's parents have purchased a run-down home on the outskirts of town. Daniel's younger sister, Erica, was given a doll that resembles her, with matching clothes, and the whole trip down all she does is talk with her doll. 

The home is even more dilapidated than Daniel thought, and reeks of despair. Daniel's parents slowly sink into depression, with his father not able to accept his new job working at a hardware store, while his mother has started smoking again. The family is slowly drifting away. Even at school, Daniel and Erica are bullied and mocked for their differences. And kids whispers that they live in the house where a kid disappeared 50 years ago. Taken by Auntie, and her vile servant Bloody Bones, young Selene was never found, and her family died of sadness.

Daniel doesn't believe in ghosts, but the strange presence he feels watching him from the border of the woods worries him. Erica travels inside the woods with her dolls, and when Daniel spies her, she seems to be talking to someone he can't see. Scared, he takes Erica away, but abandons the doll behind. Erica is so despondent that Daniel and his dat search for the doll all night, but do not find it. The next day, Erica vanishes, but another child bearing resemblance to young Selene appears in her stead, telling Daniel that Auntie sent her away now that she has a new servant.

With the adults around him not believing the series of strange circumstances and happenings that are occurring, it is up to Daniel to save his sister and defeat Auntie and Bloody Bones once and for all!

This graphic novel adaptation of Mary Downing Hahn's novel Took embodies all of the creepiness of the original and adds visual elements that heightens the anxiety the reader experiences while wondering if Daniel will be able to save his sister from Auntie's evil clutches. Fans of light horror will appreciate this tale and will enjoy the illustrations, though the lettering is not as smooth as some of the other graphic stories adapted by Scott Peterson. 

The Forgotten Girl

Brown, India Hill. The Forgotten Girl. 2019. 250p. ISBN 9781338317244. Available as an audiobook from Overdrive.

As an Indian-American, Iris is used to be ignored at her middle school. Her parents do not receive the email that there was a ceremony acknowledging all of the sports captains, and Iris is not invited. When the school's clean-up group is interviewed by the local television station, Iris is not invited. Is it the color of her skin? Iris consoles herself in the presence of her best friend, Daniel, who lives across the street.

One night, both of them leave their homes to play in the freshly fallen snow, despite the misgivings that Daniel's grandmother, Sugar, has about winter. She believes the spirit of the snow kills, and she does not want Daniel to play outside during the dark months of the year. While making snow angels in the woods near their home, Iris and Daniel realize they are standing in a small cemetery. They had no idea it even existed.

Soon Iris finds herself plagued by the ghost of a girl not much younger than she and Daniel are. Her name is Avery, and she died over 70 years ago. No one seems to remember Avery in town. Iris senses that Avery's ghost is angry, and she resolves to help her find peace. Using a social studies project at school, her and Daniel research abandoned cemeteries where African-Americans were segregated, even in death. As she finds more information, the danger posed by Avery grows. Will Iris discover the secret of the forgotten girl before the spirit of the snow takes her?

A thrilling mystery and ghost story, The Forgotten Girl is a page turner that middle school readers will enjoy.

The Clumsy Ghost and Other Spooky Tales

Jessiman, Alastair, and others. The Clumsy Ghost and Other Spooky Tales. 2011. 151 mins. ISBN 9781843795049. 

Ghost stories are as old as time. Told to entertain us, to spook us, and often time to teach us a lesson, In this short audiobook, seven stories of haunting present frightful and no-so-scary tales. A man who was clumsy in life died when he tripped over an empty bag of chips and fell in front of a moving bus. As a ghost, he chose to haunt a dilapidated mansion. Wanting to be helpful, he tries to assist the family who lives there, but is clumsy enough that his efforts instead are perceived as malevolent. His presence, however, soon attracts visitors, and the money from tickets helps restoring the house to its former glory.

Other stories present locations as exotic as ancient Egypt, where sons of Ramses hunt for a powerful item in a tomb, and a pirate ship that stalled out at sea, with no winds and no hope. Fans of spooky stories will enjoy this light-hearted yet frightening collection of ghost tales.

Anya's Ghost

Brosgol, Vera. Anya's Ghost. 2011. 221p. ISBN 978-1-59643-713-5. Available in the graphic novels section of the library.

Anya is an immigrant to the United States. Her mother is Russian, and Anya only arrived in time to start primary school. Now in high school, Anya has lost her accent, and adopted a different last name (honestly, who can pronounce Borzakovskaya?). Despite that, she has only one friend, feels ostracized by her classmates, and resents the attention she receives from Dima, another Russian immigrant who is a more recent arrival in her private school.

Cutting class and smoking are Anya's favorite activities in school, something she does often with her friend Siobhan. Angry one day, Anya runs through the forest near the school, only to fall into an old abandoned well. Recovering from her drop, she discovers a skeleton, and meets the ghost of Emily, a girl who fell in the well 90 years ago and was never found. Emily tells her her parents were murdered, and she barely escaped the house, only to fall here and die of thirst and of a broken neck. Emily is stuck in the well, as her ghost cannot abandon her skeleton. Fearing for her own life, Anya spends the time nursing her small stash of food, and smoking cigarettes.

Rescued by a passerby, Anya finds that she spent two days in the well. When she wakes up the next morning, she realizes that she must have picked up one of Emily's bones by accident, because Emily is with her. At first Anya is annoyed at this ghost that is always there, but she soon realizes there are advantages to having a ghost. She can get answers on tests. The ghost can be her wingman as she tries to woo Sean, who is perfect Elizabeth's boyfriend.

As time passes, Emily becomes more demanding, and the lifestyle changes she's promoting don't seem right to Anya. How do you back away from a ghost who's trying to control your life?

Strange the Dreamer

Taylor, Laini. Strange the Dreamer. Book 1 of the Strange the Dreamer series. 2017. 536p. ISBN 978-0-316-34168-4. Available at FIC TAY on the library shelves.

Lazlo Strange was an orphan found in an orchard. Adopted by monks, he lived an austere life in the monastery. This life was only enlivened by the stories told by an ancient monk, and by the escapades in the gardens of the monastery. In possession of a vivid imagination and powerful dreams, Lazlo saw himself as a hero of ancient tales, none closer to his heart than that of the mythic lost city of Weep.

Once upon a time, across the vast desert stood a city wealthy beyond belief, where cakes were left on windowsills for anyone to take, where candy was as sweet as honey, and where strangers were not allowed on the pain of death. That city had a wonderful name, but that name was tragically lost when Lazlo was five years old. The city suddenly lost its name, and neither Lazlo nor anyone else could remember what it was.

Charged with delivering a package to a city near the monastery, Lazlo visits the library for the first time, and never lives. Hired first as a helper then as a librarian, he immerses himself in the old books and legends, always trying to pierce together the mystery of Weep. What happened that the city lost its name? Unfortunately for him, the city lays too far, and has too many dangers, to ever explore it so Lazlo contents himself with life in the library.

Then the opportunity of a lifetime presents itself when the legend of Weep becomes real. The Godslayer, the man responsible for killing the gods that ruled Weep, presents himself and his large band of fearsome warriors to the Queen, seeking to assemble a caravan of experts who could solve the riddle of Weep, his city. Lazlo jumps at the chance, although as a librarian his abilities to solve this mystery are slim to none. Accompanied by experts in the field of mining, explosives, flying, magic, and other critical subjects, the group head out to Weep across the vast desert. What they discover defies comprehension.

Above the city flies a large angel with wings spread. Made of a strange metal, the angel blocks the sun and keeps Weep in a perpetual twilight even at noon. There are no cakes on the windowsills, and the population remains in fear of the gods that ruled them for hundreds of years. Now these gods are dead, but the hovering citadel remains a potent sign of their former domination. The Godslayer provides them with a simple task. Move or destroy the citadel.

Aboard the citadel, five children survived the massacre engineered by the Godslayer, and remained hidden for fifteen years. These children have grown up, and as Godspawns, they possess strange powers, none stranger than Sarai, who at night releases moths from her mouth. These moths descend on Weep, and watch the sleeping population. They can also deliver nightmares, and for years Sarai has haunted the dreams of the local inhabitants, seeking to punish them for their destruction of her parents. Over this time, however, she also gained a sense of humanity's desires and frailties, while humans remain caricatures for her siblings.

When Lazlo and his companions arrive in Weep with the Godslayer, Sarai immediately sees the risks that they pose of being able to access the flying citadel. Lazlo is not like the other humans, however, and Sarai finds herself attracted to this strange man who has even stranger dreams, and who can even see her in his dream, when no one else can. Can the two of them manage to close the gap between their people before it's too late?

Beautifully written, this fantastic tale will be appreciated by all readers for its humanity and its amazing world building.