International House of Dereliction

An indefatigable 10-year-old resolves to help the restless spirits haunting the house next door move on to the afterlife in this wholesome ghost story by Davies (The Bridge Battle). In what her mother promises will be the white-cued family’s last uprooting for a while, Alice Cannoli-Potchnik and her loving parents move into a run-down house on the edge of the college campus where her mother lectures. While exploring the new neighborhood, Alice is drawn to the condemned abode next door. After fixing the residence’s damaged hearth—an easy feat for handy Alice, who’s helped her father fix up their last 11 homes—she finds herself in the company of several ghosts, all with unfinished business preventing them from passing on. But Alice’s mission to assist her ghostly neighbors is jeopardized when a demolition crew arrives to tear the house down. Spurred by Alice’s ferocious determination, this cleverly plotted genealogical mystery delves into the specters’ history as much as Alice’s own, culminating in an exhilarating sequence of events that showcases Davies’s uncanny balance of whimsy and excitement. This mesmerizing Monster House–flavored tale is packed with oodles of heart. Ages 8–12. (July)