This is a wonderful read for kids who live near or are visiting the famous Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, Colorado. As most ghost stories go I think there is plenty there to capture their attention and need a night light but it will appeal more to those kids (and parents) who stay at the hotel or are familiar with its illustrious past. My thanks to the publisher for the advance copy.

Jada & Dion get to stay at Stanly Hotel . This is a really fast read .Its a cute book .I think kids in age group 8 to 12 will love this book.. I know both my Grandson who is almost 11 and Gran daughter 9 would love it

Spooky tale that makes the supernatural phenomenon at the Stanley Hotel accessible to a younger reader.

Jayda and Dion have to tag along with their dad when he gets a job out of town. They end up staying at the famous Stanley Hotel. This book is a super cute scary (but not too scary) ghost story based on experience people have had while staying at the Stanley. The characters were well developed and the story was extremely detailed for a shorter book. I loved it and can't wait to have my kids read it.

I received this as an ARC from Netgalley.com.

First line: Jayla Walters was fast asleep and dreaming about math.

Summary: Jayla and her brother spend spring break stuck in the Stanley Hotel while their father works a landscaping job. They encounter a ghost in room 217!

Highlights: This book is part of a series about a different haunting in each state. It is recommended for middle grade, and I feel that is accurate. The book relates back to real events and invites the reader to do their own sleuthing about ghost hauntings at the Stanley Hotel.

Lowlights: The character development is fairly flat. The children elude to the fact that their mother left, but there is no explanation which could confuse some children.

FYI: There are some scary scenes, including children getting lost in the dark.

This book I would recommend to 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders. It is an easy read chapter book, which is perfect for elementary students that are not ready for a full blown novel that is about 20-30 chapters long. The book having only 10 chapters is great start for children to build up on sitting for a moderate amount of time reading a book. I enjoy the combination of it being fiction and nonfiction at the same time. I know the kids will get a kick knowing that there is actually a place that exist here in America and that it is haunted. This also great for any kids that are Goosebump and Mostly Ghostly series fan too.

A BIG Thank You to NetGalley, North Star Editions and Jolly Fish Press for providing me a copy of “Trapped in Room 217″ by Thomas Kingsley Troupe in exchange for my review. This book is interesting primarily because it is based on real events.

Jayla and Dion are likable characters and they come off as an interesting detective duo. They both have distinctive personalities, where Jayla is the impulsive girl lunging into danger, while Dion is the smart, cautious one. Personally, I liked Dion more than Jayla because he seemed smarter than his elder sister most of the time. However, my favorite character was Reuben. This man is so kind and friendly, and has a lot of fun trivia about the hotel. If I even went to a hotel to garner historical facts on it, I would love to interact with someone like him. Probably the only character I didn’t have much regard for was the father. He didn’t seem to be too interested in what his kids were involved in.

The story is short and fast paced. As this book is targeted for a younger audience, I didn’t expect to get shocked by the events taking place. However, I did get shocked towards the end on how Elizabeth reacts, and was wondering what would happen next. It’s a shame that the book was short as I would have loved to read about some of the other ghosts residing there. I also enjoyed the fact that the author indirectly credits Stephen King in the book. The tour guide in one scene mentions a horror book that was inspired by an author’s stay at the hotel. After researching, I found that Stephen King stayed at the Stanley and it inspired him to write “The Shining”!

Thomas Kingsley Troupe has done a nice job of blending facts with fiction. I am keen on checking out other books in the “Haunted States in America” series. I can’t comment much on the illustrations by Maggie Ivy, as the advanced copy didn’t have the illustrations in place. In fact, I wish this copy contained the illustrations as well. It would have been fun to see the reactions of the characters through the illustrations.

Overall, “Trapped in Room 217” is a quick, fun and easy read if you are in the mood for something spooky. Even though it is for a younger audience, I feel that people of any age group would enjoy this book. I rate the book 4/5 stars.

Trapped in room 217

I read and saw the picture of Stephan King's "The Shinning'" many tims. Room 217 was a very important part of the story. This book was a quick read. Jayla , her brother Dion along with their dad have checked into the Stanley Hotel. The only room that was available was 217.

As soon as the were asleep they had a ghostly visitor, Elizabeth a former maid many years aho. This book was a fast read and kind of fun. Any fan of the Shinning" will enjoy the short story.

Downloaded through Netgalley to read for an honest review!
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This was quite a fun little novel! While this book is intended for a younger audience, I found myself REALLY liking it. The acknowledgement by the author at the end was intriguing as the author described their stay in Room 217!

The story moves a good pace and I feel that a younger audience will definitely stay interested and that it will hold their attention. The story is well written and the characters are fun to read as well. Jayla and her brother Dion, have a great family dynamic and are realistically written. This book is a fun spine tingling read that one can NOT put down. I definitely loved it being set in the Stanley Hotel as it is a real haunt! Super cool way to introduce younger audiences to real places with out it being too scary for them but just enough to make this book a one click read. 4 stars from me!

I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Like several other readers, I didn't realize this was a "middle grades" read when I downloaded it. Once I did, I was able to really enjoy it! In the same vein as "Encyclopedia Brown" and "The Boxcar Children", Jayla and Dion decide to get to the bottom of why their hotel room is haunted.
A little spooky, and definitely with some great atmosphere, there's honestly no better location for a horror story than the Stanley (for kids or adults, apparently!)
I would definitely recommend this for someone in that age range, especially if they're into the spooky stuff!

13 years old Jayla Walters and her brother, Dion get an early spring break when their dad, Damon was assigned to a landscaping job to fix trails in Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado. Since it was a last minute call, all hotels in Estes Park were fully booked except for The Stanley Hotel. Unbeknownst to them, this hotel has a reputation for paranormal activities, specifically Room 217, in which is also the room the Walters checked into. During the first night, Jayla saw a ghost dressed in an old-fashioned hotel maid uniform walking towards her bed and seems to be searching for something, and she visits the room every night, doing the same thing. What does the ghost want? Is she trapped in this room? Can Jayla and Dion help her to move on?

Truth be told, I did not expect a lot from this book. But oh dear, I stand corrected! Albeit a quick and easy read, this book kept me on the edge of my seat! The spine-tingling storytelling made this book a page-turner. It is creepy and the descriptive writing brought the story alive; kept you guessing what's next? I think the author did an excellent job in bringing chills to my bones when I read this book. This story is even creepier when it is actually based on the real Stanley Hotel - which inspired Stephen King's Overlook Hotel in his bestseller The Shining; the same hotel where the movie was also filmed.

In a nutshell, this is a good read if you are looking for a quick hair-raising horror story. I enjoyed the simple but intriguing plot, good writing and the spine-chilling storytelling. A must read!

***I received a complimentary copy of this book from Flux through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All views expressed in this review are my own and was not influenced by the author, publisher or any third party.***

I received this book from Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

Jayla and her brother Dion get to start spring break early! After their dad receives notice that he is needed in Estes, Colorado for a job the family moves into the Stanley Hotel for a week. Upon entering the hotel Jayla is in awe of how fancy it is, but quickly gets freaked out when she hears an older couple mention something about the room they will be staying in, room 217.

I didn't realize it at the time but this book is for children (between 12-15). As an adult the book was not scary however as a book for a juvenile I can see this being spooky. Over all the book was a quick read and would recommend it.

Did not realize it was a middle school book, when I requested, but read to my son and he enjoyed. Either he is a bit more okay with scary, or I think it could be a bit scarier, since he is only an elementary student. A good read for a younger age group for sure!

I didnt realize this was a book for juvenile ages, but it is a very good ghost story for ages around 10 and up. Not overly scary, but just right. 3 stars and I see he will be having similar ghost story books. My daughter Emma, age 10 ,will love this!

Jayla and her brother Dion get to start spring break early! After their dad receives notice that he is needed in Estes, Colorado for a job the family moves into the Stanley Hotel for a week. Upon entering the hotel Jayla is in awe of how fancy it is, but quickly gets freaked out when she hears an older couple mention something about the room they will be staying in, room 217. On their first night in the hotel both Jayla and Dion have a ghostly encounter that puts both of them on edge and ready to leave, but is there more to the hotel than meets the eye?


I thought this one was cute. I enjoyed reading about the relationship between Dion and Jayla and how they were able to navigate the move into a strange place together. I also liked that this book was different from basically every other book written for younger readers in that the adults actually took the kids seriously. And of course we can't overlook the setting for a kids book. Who doesn't want to read about the Stanley Hotel? Overall I thought this was a fun read and I'll definitely continue on with the series.