The Smoky Corridor (A Haunted Mystery) - Softcover

CHRIS GRABENSTEIN is the Agatha and Anthony award—winning author of The Crossroads and The Hanging Hill as well as several adult thrillers. He used to write TV and radio commercials and has written for The Muppets.

Chris was born in Buffalo, New York, and moved to Chattanooga, Tennessee, when he was 10. After college, he moved to New York City to become an actor and writer. For five years, he did improvisational comedy with some of  the city's funniest performers, including this one guy named Bruce Willis. Currently, Chris and his wife JJ live in New York City with three cats and a dog named Fred who starred in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang on Broadway. You can visit Chris (and Fred) at ChrisGrabenstein.com

Grade 5-8 This third entry in the series continues the adventures of Zach Jennings, who has the uncanny ability to see and talk with ghosts. His entrance into sixth grade is complicated by the brain-eating zombie that sleeps under the school guarding a Confederate treasure trove for a voodoo-practicing ghost waiting to take over the body of an unsuspecting child. With a maze of tunnels under it, a cemetery behind it, and guardian ghosts wandering through it, this middle school is far worse than most. Murders are committed in the quest for the treasure, but the creepiness tends to be so over-the-top, and there is so much humor in the book, that the evil is mitigated. Zach is a likable character, resigned to his ghost-seeing abilities and often trying to connect with his inner superhero. He's also nervous about the new school, realistic about his status there, and wants to make friends and avoid the school bully. With its short chapters, Smoky Corridor might appeal to some reluctant readers, but there are a lot of characters, including ghosts, to keep track of, and the plot is full of twists and turns that could be confusing. Grabenstein is a riveting storyteller most kids won't be able to put this book down. Its appeal will be wide, as it is a mystery, a thriller, a ghost story, a school story, an action adventure, and a humorous book. It can stand alone, although reading the earlier titles does provide some pertinent background information. Connie Tyrrell Burns, Mahoney Middle School, South Portland, ME
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.