I'm constantly in search of books for my tweeage granddaughters, and my younger one (elementary school) and my surrogate granddaughters (elementary and pre-school). I'd heard that this series, written by two sisters, was a good one, so decided to check it out. If this book is any indicator, then the series has enough plot, humor, and scare to carry it along, written at a solid elementary to early middle school level. Older kids will roll their eyes and reach for volumes where boys and girls stop being just pals and begin to admire each other's curves and/or muscles, but here, they're still kids. It's nice to see this type of book: modern day kids who haven't grown up too fast, or too savvy. I picture the girls in tee shirts rather than crop tops with sequins.

The story was good: mean old lady next door, who might be a witch or murderer or both, kids being where they're not supposed to be, dead squirrel, creepy old doll, ghost. You know. The usual suspects.

Oh -- and I think this is going into film production -- there's even a facebook page for Deadtime Stories (the series).

This was a wishlist fulfillment from a friend at Tor Books. Thank you, Paul! ( )