I bought The Peculiar Incident on Shady Street after reading this galley of it before its release. I absolutely loved it and knew my kiddo would love it just as much. Tessa, the main character in the novel, instantly melted my heart because she came from Florida and moved to Chicago and really wasn't excited for the move. I understood this all too well because my family moved from Springfield to Florida and it sort of broke my heart. As I watched Tessa meet new friends and attempt to solve a mystery that was lurking within her new house, I felt connected to her and appreciative of Lindsay's way of creating characters who felt real. The book not only circles around spooky ghost stories and the dynamics of junior high life as the new kid, it was rich in Chicago history and solving mysteries within our own emotional situations that promote growth and self awareness. Tessa and her friends were talked about by my kiddo and me, long after the book was placed back on the shelf. Thank you, Lindsay, for a terrific read, and we look forward to many more!

This is a middle grade story about ghosts, friendship, family and Chicago that I couldn’t stop reading! It is based upon a true story from Graceland Cemetery in Chicago and at first was really scary (at least for someone who NEVER reads ghost stories!). In fact I told my husband one evening that I had to stop reading or I’d never sleep! However, the mystery, the characters, the friendships and the great story had me quickly picking it up the next day. As more of the characters were revealed, and the more I learned about the ghost of the little girl who was haunting Tessa (the strong, brave, resourceful and likeable main character) the more I wanted to quickly finish the book. I know this is going to be a perfect story for all of those kids who ask for a scary book! And there are definitely a LOT of those kids in every library. But more importantly, this is a great choice for kids who are coping with middle school friendships, acceptance of a not so normal family or quirky friends. 5 stars for sure!

In another spooky story, Tessa discovers her new house is haunted in The Peculiar Incident on Shady Street. Her family’s spontaneous move from the Florida suburbs to downtown Chicago is a big enough adjustment, but mysterious drawings and crying toys are too much for a new kid in school to handle. Tessa’s ghost hunt catches the attention of some of the kids in her new neighborhood, and she’s soon part of a ghost-hunting squad that helps her learn to appreciate her new neighborhood and make some much-needed new friends in addition to helping her lay her haunted house’s ghost to rest.

This is a real ghost story—the house really is haunted by a restless spirit, and Tessa has to solve the mystery of who the ghost is to help lay the spirit to rest. Lindsey Currie does a great job capturing the lonely frustration of leaving all your friends and having to start over in a new place, and Tessa and her new friends are believable middle schoolers—the book is as much about how to be a friend as it is about the mystery of the Shady Street ghost. There are some creepy haunted house scenes that are just spine-tingling enough without being too scary, and the haunting has a satisfying resolution. I’d pass this one on to kids who love read-it-by-flashlight spooky stories.

Must read. I couldn't praise Lindsay enough. Every middle grade student will love Peculiar. It's equal parts spooky and equal parts relatable. I was on the edge of my seat reading and finished in one sitting.

Spooky and filled with an incredibly dark and creepy sense of foreboding, Currie has perfectly filled the middle grade desire for a healthy dose of fear.

Thanks to the author, Net Galley and Kid Lit Exchange for the digital review copy of this book ~ all opinions are my own.

Let me start by saying that I do NOT read ghost stories or creepy stories or scary stories of ANY kind in the adult genre. However, as a middle grade kid, all I read was Christopher Pike and RL Stine, so I definitely have a base with which to compare PECULIAR Currie completely blows that level of creepy out of the water with her debut novel, and today’s middle grade readers are much better off for her level of skill. I can honestly say that I will never look at a ventriloquist dummy the same again after reading this book!

I absolutely love the way the setting almost takes on a life of its own in this novel, with the dark and stormy skies invading my brain space the entire time I was reading about Tess and her quest to solve the mystery of her new house. But aside from the major middle-grade-appropriate-spooky factor, I adored how perfectly Currie captured the heart of a 6th grade girl and her anxiety over moving to a new school and meeting new friends. Tess’ family is delightfully quirky and I fell in love with her parents and their free-range parenting and lack of technology. This little theme was thrown in with just the right amount of humor to keep it from being preachy, but will probably still stick with kids.

Highly recommended purchase for middle grade classrooms and libraries. I would say the sweet spot for this story will be grades 4-6, but it will definitely appeal to some 7th and 8th graders as well.

I always go in tentatively to spooky books because I am so jumpy and also really don’t enjoy when the only point of a book is to scare the reader. But I could tell right away that Shady Street was going to completely exceed other just-scary books because it was about so much more. Sure, there was definitely a shady mystery and some really scary moments, but it was all entwined with a story about friendship, family, identity, and moving. Lindsay Currie did a perfect job balancing the two goals of the book: to scare the reader and to make the reader care so much about her characters.

In addition to the plot development being on point, Shady Street‘s characters were each were fully-developed to give every reader someone to connect with. I also liked how Currie included actual Chicago folklore and landmarks to enhance the story (and as a girl who lives in Florida and loves Chicago, I loved the Florida truths throughout also). Check out Currie’s website for behind the scenes info.

Prepare to be spooked! Tessa moves from sunny and sandy Florida to rainy and cold Chicago. She is not happy about starting over at a new school and desperately misses her best friend Rachel. Not long after her family moves into their new home, Tessa notices strange things happening. Could her house really be haunted? With the help of new friends, Tessa begins to uncover a mystery involving a young girl who died many, many years ago. Highly recommend this #mglit book for its seamlessly blending of suspense, humor and most importantly the power of friendship. The book trailer can be viewed here. The Peculiar Incident of Shady Street is being released on October 10, 2017 so pre-order your copy now.

Thank you to the author, Lindsay Currie, the publisher, Simon and Schuster Children’s and NetGalley, for providing me with an advanced reader copy of Peculiar Incident on Shady Street.

Not as creepy as I might have liked. More unsettling than truly frightening. Like the ventriloquist dummy that seems to communicate with spirits. That will put you on edge. Its just that the fear doesn't carry through the whole book.THe final resolution is a bit of a let down.

As soon as she arrives in her new home, Tessa notices the odd electrical fluctuations and currents of cold air and her brother starts talking to a new friend that only he can see. But she meets a boy right off the bat who brings her instantly into a new cadre of friends. Andrew, a soccer jock, introduces Tessa to Nina, Richie, and Cassidy. But Cassidy seems moody, and put out by the new girl’s sudden appearance.

For fans of John Bellairs and Dan Poblocki, <em>An Incident on Shady Street</em> nails the genre of scary stories for younger kids (middle-grade/age 8-12). Lindsay Currie’s wording is captivating and flows quickly into the story that takes the reader deeper and deeper into a mystery about the death and burial of a girl who’s grave site is said to be haunted.

Mysterious drawings that appear in Tessa’s sketch book grow more detailed, a painting in the hallway seems to grow more dreary, and now her brother says his ventriloquist’s dummy has been talking to him, which all add up to a haunted house in her mind. When she admits it to her friends, the quiet twin, Nina, seems to know about Tessa’s house and its history… and maybe its secrets.

<blockquote>I stare at the picture on the wall as we pass. This time it looks even darker, more somber than it did earlier. The petals on the flowers seem almost... wilted. Strange. I remember bright red blooms on the flowers, not dark, wrinkled ones. </blockquote>

She reveals that Tessa’s house, in fact, their entire neighborhood-- was built atop a not-quite completely relocated cemetery. <em>Poltergeist</em> activity?

Meanwhile, Cassidy is not her usual self, and her gloom begins to infect Tessa, making her question how much she is really accepted by her new group of friends. Cassidy’s scorn becomes a mystery of its own.

Then… wait for it… the creepy dummy finds its way into Tessa’s bedroom one night and starts crying real tears while repeating the word “Graceland.” And it doesn’t mean where Elvis lived... it means the cemetery where all the relocated bodies went to.

Tessa enlists Nina’s help in learning about the house, but they get more than they bargained for when the grave site of a six year old girl at Graceland Cemetery-- a girl who never truly existed-- reveals the same statue that is being sketched in Tessa’s pastel book. During a pop-up lightning storm, the statue disappears from her haunted tomb!

<blockquote>I knew it was Inez. I could tell from the way my skin got all prickly and the airs on the back of my neck did their thing. There wasn’t any crying or door rattling, but she was there. <em>I could feel her.</em></blockquote>

Tessa believes the ghost of Inez Clarke is following her, trying to tell her something, when she discovers a note hidden behind a fake brick in her new house’s fireplace. But the sketch is marked with initials that do not match. The sudden lightning storms become more frequent, and tension among the friends begins to grow...

I found the atmosphere of the book reminiscent of the spooky mystery books by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/24403.Peg_Kehret" target="_blank">Peg Kehret</a> and <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/3176845.Wylly_Folk_St_John" target="_blank"> Wylly Folk St John</a> that I used to read during the summer as a kid. There is a lot of reassuring talk about friendship, so it’s a safe bet for younger or more sensitive readers who like the idea of horror, but really just want a good gothic mystery.

I can’t even begin to say how much I absolutely love this book. It has everything in it a perfect story should have: lovable characters, a plot filled with twists and turns, and the depth of a storyline that keeps you guessing.

Peculiar Incident is perfect for readers from Grades 4 and up, including adults. As a reading teacher, I’m constantly looking for texts that keep my students hooked until the very end. This book does just that. I’m craving more.

This book grabbed my attention from the first chapter. It was spooky but the characters and descriptions were so engaging and well-written, it made for a page-turner. Kids LOVE spooky books, so I definitely have recommended this.

What a great ghost story. Spooky, sciency, and yet full of problems every kid has. I recommend this book to kids who are looking for spooky books, kids who like realistic fiction, kids who love art or are generally divergent thinkers. There's a character for everyone in this book.

When I was a kid, I absolutely loved reading mysteries. My favorite books, though, were part-mystery and part-heart. Clues and action were awesome, but they couldn’t dominate over friendship and family. Take all those attributes, add some paranormal activity, and you’ve got The Peculiar Incident on Shady Street.

When Tessa and her family move to from Florida to Chicago, everything seems to change. Tessa worries that she’s lost everything that makes up who she is. She’s living in an old Victorian house that just seems cold and creepy. She doesn’t have any friends in her new neighborhood. And quickly, unexplainable things begin to happen in her home: flickering lights, weirdness with her brother’s ventriloquist dummy, crying in the middle of the night, and more spooky stuff.

As Tessa works to find an answer to what’s going on, she also finds friendship. Neighborhood kids Andrew and Nina become her partner detectives as they seek to solve a mystery that seems to be a century old.

Young readers will find role models in Tessa and her friends. This book has a ghost, but it isn’t about ghosts. It’s about friendship. It’s about change. It’s about family. It’s about making the best of things. And most of all, it’s about heart.

This review is long overdue but well deserving. Lindsay Currie has created a character to root for in Tess. Moving to a new town is never easy, but it is even more challenging when you think your new house might be haunted by a ghost. Tess' journey to build new friendships and uncover the mystery is what makes this a spooktacular tale! However, you might not want to read it in the dark. I highly recommend it for any middle-grade reader.

This was an intriguing story filled with mystery along with some creepy, eerie events too! I think it will be a huge hit with students!

'd like to thank the author, Lindsay Currie, and Kid Lit exchange for providing an e-book ARC. All opinions are my own.

Tessa and her family have moved from Florida where everything is bright, sunny and warm to gray, cold Chicago. Her father has gotten his dream job with the Chicago symphony, but with that has come sacrifices. Tess has had to leave her friends and school, her mother is not going to be able to sell beach scene art in Chicago and now they've moved into a creaky old house. There's spooky sounds and suddenly cold air at night.... not to mention a painting in the hallway keeps getting darker and darker and her little brother's antique ventriloquist dummy keeps appearing in Tess's room. Suddenly, a mysterious symbol begins appearing in Tess's sketchbook and Tess knows SHE isn't drawing it.
Tess's worries are legitimate to a middle schooler that has to move to a totally new environment one month after school has already begun. But, she keeps telling herself it's for her dad, even though Tess can't imagine how she's going to make friends AND survive her haunted house.
When Tess blurts out her house is haunted to her new classmates on her first day of school, she thinks she will never make friends.In addition, Tess' parents are different than "normal parents" so Tess doesn't have a phone, computer or TV. However, Andrew, an athletic boy she met at a nearby pond, not only wants to befriend Tess, he's intrigued about her haunted house. With him, comes Nina, the shy nerd that loves the paranormal, Cassidy, the mysterious "mean girl" and Richie, Nina's twin, who is really smart, but doesn't want people to know.
Middle grade readers will identify with the characters--- Currie develops them so well, they seem real. Hey, I wanted to hang out with Tess and her new friends and go searching Graceland Cemetery for answers to who was the mysterious Inez Clarke myself!
There's just enough spookiness and weird goings-on to keep readers intrigued as well as the pace. Currie keeps the plot moving along without appearing to "teach" something to the reader... nor give too much information or history.
While Tess and her new friends work as a team to discover the connection between what is going on at her house and the mystery of six year old Inez Clarke, who supposedly was locked outside her home and struck by lightning during a storm, she learns change is different, but it can also turn out ok because things aren't always as they seem.
Lindsay Currie did an excellent job creating her very relatable characters and placing them in a situation to work together to solve the mystery. They all learned something about themselves and each other without it being preachy or slowing the pace of the storyline, and the historical references and suspensefulness of the strange things at Tess's house and Graceland kept this adult reader immersed in the story and wanting more when it ended. I hope this is the first in a series of books about Chicago and Tess and her new friends.
Maybe the next one will be about the Chicago Symphony?

, I enjoyed this spooky ghost story! Tessa is brave in the face of living with a ghost and being the new kid. She also shows persistence in solving the mystery. I liked how some students welcomed her and others didn’t so it wasn’t all easy. I predict this will be a big hit with readers!

Lindsay Currie’s Peculiar Incident on Shady Street is a great ghost mystery

THE PECULIAR INCIDENT ON SHADY STREET, by Lindsay Currie, Aladdin, Oct. 10, 2017, Hardcover, $16.99 (ages 8-12)

I love fall — the crunch of leaves, the golden light and the publication of spooky stories. But truth be told, a strong spooky story like Lindsay Currie’s The Peculiar Incident on Shady Street is worth reading any time of year.

The Peculiar Incident on Shady Street stars 12-year-old Tessa Woodward who has just moved from deliciously sunny Florida to cold and dreary Chicago. Tessa doesn’t want to move, a feeling punctuated by a 19-hour drive in a minivan and the arrival at her family’s “new” 19th-century fixer upper.

Tessa’s trying to be positive for her dad, who is more than a little excited about his new position as concertmaster of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. And Tessa does try, but weird things keep happening, and they’re starting to freak her out.

First, it’s the flickering lights, then it’s blasts of cold air when the windows are all closed, and then mysterious drawings start appearing in Tessa’s notepad. When her little brother’s doll starts crying real tears, Tessa realizes something or someone is after her. But who’s going to believe a 12-year-old girl who thinks her house is haunted?

Luckily for Tessa, her fears don’t throw off new friends. In fact, those fears intrigue them even more. With their help, Tessa just might be able to solve the mystery surrounding her house on Shady Street.

The Peculiar Incident on Shady Street has a great ambiance to it. It’s a ghost story/mystery with a Wait Till Helen Comes/Nancy Drew feel to it. I love how the house feels every much a character as the people. The creaking floors, crooked painting and dank bathroom bring you straight into the room with Tessa.

There’s a lot to like beyond the mystery and spooky elements. Tessa’s relationships with her parents and friends add dimension. Tessa’s embarrassment over her mom and dad’s parenting style in particular hit all the right notes.

My one problem with The Peculiar Incident on Shady Street is the doll Tessa’s brother carries around. It’s one of those old-fashioned ventriloquist dummies. I’m not sure if young readers would even know what one looks like. Also, I’m having a hard time picturing a toddler lugging one around. Little kids do imprint on some weird stuff, but I struggled with this one.

The Peculiar Incident on Shady Street is a fast-moving, compelling ghost mystery that middle-graders will love around Halloween (or anytime of the year).

With Halloween just a few short weeks away, we know you guys are on the lookout for a good scare. The Peculiar Incident on Shady Street has that covered – complete with a spooky ghost story, a haunted house, and eerie moments that are sure to send a chill down your spine.

While it certainly brings the thrills and spooks, Peculiar Incident is so much more than just a scary story. It’s a friendship story. It’s the story of four friends adventuring through Chicago, hunting for clues that will help them solve a centuries-old ghost story.

When Tessa’s family moves from their comfortable life in Florida to a new house in Chicago, it’s more than just the change in weather than Tessa has a little trouble adjusting to. Lots of strange things start happening in the house from the very first night they move in. Drawings start appearing in Tessa’s sketchbook. Lights flicker on and off for no reason. Her younger brother Jonah claims that his ventriloquist dummy Reno insists that he’s seen a ghost.

Being the new girl in a new school isn’t easy, but it’s even harder when you think your house is haunted. And even harder when you blurt it out in front of the class! Thankfully, classmates Andrew, Nina, and Richie are totally on board for a ghost hunting adventure. A little skeptical at first, these four kids grow into a tight-knit group of friends as they explore their city and unravel the mystery of the haunting. The story is paced perfectly, allowing you to solve the mystery right alongside the kids in the book.

The Peculiar Incident on Shady Street has it all – a ghost story, middle school struggles, being the new kid, and coming to terms with your “embarrassing” family. This fantastic read brings the LOLs, the spooks, and that burning desire to get out and explore the world with your best friends by your side.

View the full review on our website for our interview with the author and ideas on what to add to your Adventure Jar!

For fans of Mary Lee Hahn. Pretty scary. I would recommend it for mature 4th and up.