The Nightmarys

Seventh-grade best friends Timothy and Stuart are both upset when Timothy accidentally volunteers to be a project partner in class with a surly new girl named Abigail. But although Timothy and Abigail clash, after viewing a dire-looking painting called The Edge of Doom on a field trip they are forced to bond when strange and dangerous things start happening to them, including visits from two ghostly girls called the Nightmarys. It is up to them to solve a mystery related to Abigail’s family, which involves an ancient cursed bone and a 60-year-old murder, before events turn deadly. Plot twists keep the pacing taut, conspiring to make readers believe that Timothy and Abigail have beaten the latest threat, only to put them in greater danger. Poblocki (The Stone Child) offers plenty of grisly, cinematically creepy imagery for readers who like a good scare, and the tightly wound narrative and ongoing tension between Timothy and Abigail will keep readers holding their breath until even after what they think is the climax. Ages 9–12. (Aug.)