Ghosts in Mansions

November 1, 2016

Gr 4-6-"Your evening prison tour just ended. You walk back past dark, empty cells." These opening gambits precede short accounts of two haunted venues in each slim volume. The publisher's promise that these books "burst with intense action [and] high-speed heroics" is heavily overstated, but there are interesting "shadows of the unknown." Anne Boleyn's ghost, her head tucked under her arm, is perhaps the eeriest figure, and the White House is an intriguing locale of contemporary haunting. Prisons focuses mostly on Al Capone and speculates on what drove him "mad." The busy, occasionally cluttered layout includes short bits of white text and assorted elements (maps, sidebars) in each spread. There's less commentary on ghosts and hauntings provided than in comparable series.

Copyright 2016 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.