The Eighth Room by Jennifer St. Clair begins as both her previous stories in the Jacob Lane series have, with a character and a dilemma. Sean, crown prince of the Selkies, is being sent to Darkbrook Academy to escape the wrath of the Finfolk. While making the cross from sea to land, he and his uncle are attacked with iron blades and bullets. Lucas (Jacob’s Uncle) and Niklas (council member and dragon) arrive in time to save Sean, but his Uncle is dead before they even arrive.

Jacob Lane is back at Darkbrook, having returned after her last adventure, when a dragon alights in the front yard carrying a bleeding boy in his arms. As curious as ever, the girl races to the infirmary to discover more when she meets Ophelia in bat form on the way. Thanks to Ophelia‘s quick thinking the two show Niklas and his bleeding burden to the infirmary and in turn are asked by Jacob‘s Uncle Lucas to help keep an eye on Sean and make him feel more at home, thus giving them permission to get embroiled in this new mystery.

When cleaning the eighth storage room (read: really large junk drawer) for extra credit, the girls come across a wooden box that should be have been ruined by the damp. The box also has a stinky protection spell on it that prevents the girls from holding it for more than twenty seconds without being plagued by skunk or garlic. They take it to Sean hoping he can help them uncover the secret of the wooden box that drips saltwater and, for some unknown reason, is not completely ruined by it.

Inside they discover a key on a coral chain and three seeds they think might be from a tree, once thought to be extinct, that lives in the depths of the sea. The key leads Jacob on an adventure that produces a mystery that could unlock the secrets of the Selkies and hopefully save them from the invading Finfolk. With lovely twists, pretzels, and turns, the puzzle of this adventure unravels in a delightful romp that is just plain fun to read.

Book Stats:

• Paperback: 198 pages
• Publisher: Writers Exchange E-Publishing (July 11, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 192131415X
• ISBN-13: 978-1921314155

Buy a print copy of The Eighth Room from Amazon by clicking here.

Books in the Jacob Lane series in the order in which they should be read:
The Tenth Ghost
The Ninth Guest The Eighth Room The Seventh Secret The Sixth Stone

Ophelia’s Family has a problem. They have a huge castle, complete with fantastic antiques, books everywhere (including four signed first edition copies of Dracula), secret passageways and a dungeon. Their problem? The heating bill. Ohio winters are cold and with only a couple working members of the Family and her father unwilling to see reason and sell some of their stuff, the heating bill is becoming quite the problem. Ophelia’s Cousin Hector comes up with an idea that might just save the day. Host a Vampire B&B (“Spend the night in a vampire’s castle and Live to Tell the Tale”). Real in all senses of the word except in the guests eyes.

Determined that her summer break not be a complete waste, Ophelia invite her good friend Jacob Lane to join them at the castle. On the trip over, Jacob discovers a whole new problem and this one greatly more troubling. Hector might be a traitor to the Family and vampire hunters have infested the B&B guest list. Single-minded in their need to find proof of their suspicions, Jacob & Ophelia, accompanied by a human boy named Myron (one of the guests until they recruit him), begin searching the guests belongings and rooms for some hint of hunter.

Like a mad game of Clue each move they make uncovers more possible suspects, motives, and, well, clues that will leave you guessing until the very end. The second installment in the Jacob Lane series, The Ninth Guest is just as fabulous as the first.

Book Stats:

• Paperback: 102 pages
• Publisher: Writers Exchange E-Publishing (August 10, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1876962720
• ISBN-13: 978-1876962722

Buy a print copy of The Ninth Guest from Amazon by clicking here.

Books in the Jacob Lane series in the order in which they should be read:
The Tenth Ghost
The Ninth Guest The Eighth Room The Seventh Secret The Sixth Stone

From the first breath of intrigue to the meeting of Jacob Lane, ghost-seeing girl, I was quickly and thoroughly enchanted by this story. Jacob’s tenth birthday starts out fairly normal (for a girl who knows dragons, fairies and ghosts, that is). Her parents give her a brand new bike and she is ecstatic while sharing it with her best friend, the girl ghost Emma. By the following day, however, her life has completely changed. Her parents are missing and presumed murdered (she herself only kept safe by the quick thinking of Emma), and a boatload of relatives she never knew existed invade her house, lead by two aunts she has never met. Having lost two parents and gained a family, Jacob is sent off to Darkbrook Academy, the premier (and only) school of magic in the United States (it is in Ohio).

Meeting new ghosts, making magical friends, and the studying intensely are enough to keep anyone busy. Add in a mystery of historic proportions, a murderous plot, and twists and turns at every other moment, and you have a wonderful story set around an interesting girl and her adventures that cross the realm of wizard and witch. The Tenth Ghost is the first story in the Jacob Lane series, followed by The Ninth Guest, The Eighth Room, The Seventh Secret and the Sixth Stone.

Book Stats:

• Paperback: 100 pages
• Publisher: Writers Exchange E-Publishing (September 5, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1876962615
• ISBN-13: 978-1876962616

Buy a print copy of The Tenth Ghost from Amazon by clicking here.

Books in the Jacob Lane series in the order in which they should be read:
The Tenth Ghost
The Ninth Guest The Eighth Room The Seventh Secret The Sixth Stone

Felicity’s Curse may be a kid’s book but it will have you jumping at noises and leaving the lights on to make sure nothing is coming up behind you! Tracy Considine, her twin brother Frankie and their parents move from Long Island, NY to Leams, Massachusetts three days before the twins’ thirteenth birthday. Tracy and Frankie’s parents both grew up in Leams and decided to move back after Mrs. Considine’s mother passed away. The twins had both spent a lot of time in Leams visiting their grandmother during summer vacations, and had made friends with others their own age.

After arriving at their new home, Tracy and Frankie soon realize that the town and the people in it are somehow different from what they remember. There is an air of secrecy around town that feels almost evil. People aren’t acting like their normal selves, pets are disappearing, there are strange noises coming from the woods at night, and even the twin’s parents are acting oddly. When the little brother of one of their friends disappears after trying to tell Frankie what is going on, the twins know they have to find out the truth. When they do, it is more evil than they could ever imagine.

This book was incredible and I think people of all ages will like it. I know this review is somewhat vague but I really don’t want to give anything away. You simply have to read it for yourself to find out what happens!

Book Stats:

• File Size: 146 KB
• Print Length: 89 pages
• Simultaneous Device Usage: Unlimited
• Publisher: Writers Exchange E-Publishing (January 6, 2011)
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
• Language: English
• ASIN: B004I8WS2I

Buy a Kindle copy of Felicity’s Curse from Amazon by clicking here.

Captain Angus, The Lighthouse Ghost is a very interesting and (dare I say it without scaring the kiddos?) educational read. It takes place at the Cape Lighthouse Station at Cape Otway near Apollo Bay, Victoria on the Southeastern coast of Australia. This is an actual lighthouse, by the way, and a link to the web site and others like it can be found at the end of the book.

Aaron and Gracie are a brother and sister who are on vacation for a week with their parents. They are staying in what was the lighthouse keeper’s cottage with no TV, video games or other distractions to keep them busy. They aren’t very happy and think they will be bored to tears for an entire week. That is until they meet Cap’n Angus, a ghost who was a sea captain until he died in 1825 off the coast of his native Scotland.

Cap’n Angus has made it his mission, since becoming a ghost, to keep track of all of the old lighthouses and make sure all is well with them. He tells Aaron and Gracie that each lighthouse has its own spirit and Aurora, the one at the Cape Lighthouse, isn’t happy because he doesn’t feel useful or needed. The Cap’n asks for the help of Aaron and Gracie to make Aurora happy again. To do this, Cap’n Angus takes Aaron and Gracie on spirit trips back in time to see “their” lighthouse being built as well as to learn what happened to ships when there weren’t lighthouses. Aaron and Gracie learn a lot about their lighthouse and find out a surprise or two along the way about their own ancestors. It’s during these trips that they figure out how to make Aurora happy again.

While I thought this book reads easy enough to be interesting to kids between 7-9 or so, anyone can get enjoyment from it. There is excitement in the peeks into history and with the included links to lighthouse site, it also gives you a link between the past and present. You are learning without realizing it and you get a better appreciation for why we must preserve things from the past. I really liked the story and found the lighthouse information interesting. The web site for the Cape Lighthouse is also fascinating and contains some really good pictures. I thought it was neat that the story was about something that really exists and that just made the story even better.

Book Stats:

• Paperback: 86 pages
• Publisher: Writers Exchange E-Publishing (March 16, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1920741682
• ISBN-13: 978-1920741686

Buy a print copy of Captain Angus, The Lighthouse Ghost by clicking here.
Buy a Kindle copy of Captain Angus, The Lighthouse Ghost by clicking here.

Brad Simpson & The Ghostly Field is a wonderfully haunted kids book with a mixture of modern Hollywood and old time baseball. Brad Simpson is a child actor cast for the pilot of THE PIONEERS, a show about the pioneer life of a father and his five motherless children. Before filming even starts, people are talking about the set being haunted by a losing baseball team from a hundred years ago who played their games on what is now the set of the show. Those involved with the show, however, laugh it off as superstition and proceed with their work schedule. Before they start though, Brad sees a vision of one of the ghostly players and receives a warning. If the actors continue working on what the baseball team considers to be their field, bad things will happen. As filming begins, strange things happen, and Brad and the rest of the cast suffer freak accidents.

While recovering from one of the accidents, Brad and Karen, the casting director, decide to do some research on the ghostly baseball team. Discovering the history of the team helps them to figure out a way to get rid of the ghosts once and for all. They just need to make it through alive.

This was a very enjoyable book that I think kids aged 9 and up will like. In addition to the creepy, spooky parts, you also get a bit of an insider’s view of being a child star in Hollywood. The author lets you see that it’s not all fame and glitter, and that was something that I particularly enjoyed. It made the characters more real to me, and also more likable. There was only one part that I had trouble with, but I think that was because I am an adult and not a kid. During the final confrontation with the ghosts, Brad and his cast mates are taken to another realm by huge ghostly hands. As an adult, I found it a little too out there to believe, but as it is a ghost story, who knows what could happen? All in all though, I think any kid that is into ghost stories will really like the book.

Book Stats:

• File Size: 108 KB
• Print Length: 52 pages
• Simultaneous Device Usage: Unlimited
• Publisher: Writers Exchange E-Publishing (January 6, 2011)
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
• Language: English
• ASIN: B004I8WS3C

Purchase a Kindle copy of Brad Simpson & The Ghostly Field by clicking here.