(4) K-3 Creep Out series. This parapsychology series superficially explores fear and types of creepy locations. Each slim book highlights what makes the place so scary through matter-of-fact yet evocative writing: "Tombstones stand around you... You shiver. You are in a cemetery." Colorful photographs appear manipulated to enhance the creep factor. Short, simple sentences make for an easy read, though one pretty scary for the intended first-grade-and-up audience. Review covers these Creep Out titles: Caves, Cemeteries, Ghost Towns, Haunted Houses, Old Jails, and Tombs.

Reviewer: Antonio Trujillo

(3) 4-6 Abandoned!: Towns Without People series. Despite a rather sensationalized title, this series is genuinely fascinating. Each book traces the history of a now-deserted town, explaining its population boom, possible reasons for decline, and what each abandoned place is like today. With interesting historical and contemporary photos and well-placed sidebars, these are solid places to begin research on some of America's stranger places. Reading list. Bib., glos., ind. Review covers the following Abandoned! titles: Bodie, Cliff Dwellings, Roanoke Island, and Salton Sea Resort.

Reviewer: Sian Gaetano

(3) 4-6 Abandoned!: Towns Without People series. Despite a rather sensationalized title, this series is genuinely fascinating. Each book traces the history of a now-deserted town, explaining its population boom, possible reasons for decline, and what each abandoned place is like today. With interesting historical and contemporary photos and well-placed sidebars, these are solid places to begin research on some of America's stranger places. Reading list. Bib., glos., ind. Review covers the following Abandoned! titles: Bodie, Cliff Dwellings, Roanoke Island, and Salton Sea Resort.

Reviewer: Sian Gaetano

(2) 4-6 Seventh grader Ren runs away to nearby "ghost town" Fortune. She finds refuge in an abandoned school being renovated by quirky octogenarian Hildy, who is in search of treasure--a stash of pearls from Fortune's button-making heyday. The mystery is satisfying, filled with dead ends, scary moments, and surprising twists, but it's the relationships between the characters that make this story memorable.

Reviewer: Robin L. Smith | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2015

(4) 4-6 Scary Places series. After brief introductions, double-page spreads focus on specific archaeological finds or sites; each volume concludes with a map showing the locations. Though the busy design--featuring photographs, illustrations, and text boxes atop blurry, eerie backgrounds--strains misleadingly for spooky effect, the text itself is informative and focuses on facts rather than speculated paranormal activity. Reading list. Bib., glos., ind. Review covers these Scary Places titles: Lost Cities and Mummy Lairs.

Reviewer: Beth L. Meister

(2) YA Thirteen-year-old Spencer Honesty is the last kid in Paisley, Kansas. He takes pictures of the town's old haunts--and former residents start appearing in the photographs. This delicious premise--a ghost town coming back to life in dreams and photographs--is developed with an accretion of humorous situations and details. Readers will enjoy Jennings's quirky story of a town's unlikely savior.

Reviewer: Dean Schneider | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2009

(4) 4-6 Scary Places series. This series explores high-interest topics engagingly (if superficially). Each double-page spread features an actual "scary place," with paragraphs of history and some examples of spooky happenings. Photos, computer-manipulated images, and cheesy graphics illustrate the texts. Accessible language and sensationalized content will keep these books from growing dusty on library shelves. Reading list. Bib., glos., ind. Review covers these Scary Places titles: Creepy Castles, Ghost Towns, Haunted Hotels, Haunted Houses, and Spooky Cemeteries.

Reviewer: Rebecca Hachmyer

(4) 4-6 Fusion series. This slim, easy-to-read volume uses the examples of San Francisco and Bodie, California (a ghost town), to highlight the development and devolution of cities. Subjects include "Facing Disaster" and "The Life of a City." The writing can be awkward and choppy, but the information is solid. Many well-captioned photographs and some drawings and diagrams decorate the pages. Reading list, websites. Glos., ind.

Reviewer: Lauren Aimonette LIang

(2) K-3 Illustrated by David Frampton. Siebert's well-cadenced couplets trace the history of Rhyolite, Nevada, from the discovery of gold ore in 1904 through its brief heyday as a boomtown, with piped-in water, three newspapers, and an opera house. Frampton's woodcut illustrations emphasize the sunbaked landscape, while the book's final pages, which depict spectral townsfolk and a lone coyote, lend a haunting quality to this story of an Old West ghost town.

Reviewer: Peter D. Sieruta | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2003

(4) K-3 Illustrated by John Beder. A group of ghosts tries to scare off the few remaining residents of Paydirt, a near-abandoned mining town. Young Spook, who would rather play than frighten people, is ordered to get rid of the last miner. But Grizzly Pete turns the tables on the ghosts, and Spook ends up becoming his mining partner. The unfocused story is accompanied by average-quality watercolors.

Reviewer: Peter D. Sieruta

(2) 4-6 Bial's stark, artfully composed photos perfectly frame this broad overview of abandoned sites of the past. Buildings, landscapes, and artifacts, primarily from restored towns, appear as silent sentinels to long-deserted places. The text explores the inhabitants of nineteenth-century Western towns that sprang up during westward expansion and then were abandoned as various ventures petered out. Bib.

Reviewer: Betty Carter | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2001