The Haunted Serpent
Dora M. Mitchell
Hardcover
(Sterling Children's Books, June 5, 2018)
âFans of Dan Poblocki, John Bellairs, and R.L. Stine will all be right at home and smiling at the shivers (and the jokes).â âKirkusWelcome to Thedgeroot, where Spaulding Meriwether is on a quest to make friends, become cool . . . and figure out why dead people are running around. âYou know how people always tell you âjust be yourself?â Thatâs terrible advice. You wonât survive middle school that way. Trust me.â Spaulding Meriwether, Thedgeroot Middle School's new resident weirdo and son of questionable television ghost hunters, just wants to fit in. But after a revenant chases him through the woods, Spaulding suspects thereâs something afoot in Thedgeroot. (At least he thinks itâs a foot. Maybe it was a hand. Itâs hard to tell when youâre running away.) Then he notices the chimneys of the abandoned factory at the edge of town puffing smokeâand his dead next-door neighbor materializes, along with David, the missing pet boa constrictor that supposedly ate him. Spaulding canât help wondering if these strange happenings have anything to do with his undead friends in the forest. Of course, Spaulding just has to investigateâbut he may be biting off more than he can chew . . . . Kids will love this hilariously creepy illustrated middle-grade novel! âA spooky, high-interest adventureâŠââSchool Library Journal . . . engaging and goosebump inducing.â âBooklist
T