Books like 'Not Quite a Ghost'
Readers who enjoyed Not Quite a Ghost by Anne Ursu also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
contemporary horror fantasy supernatural realistic ghosts paranormal gothic magical-realism children
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Deep and Dark and Dangerous (A Ghost Story) by Mary Downing Hahn
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 25 ratingsJust before summer begins, 13-year-old Ali finds an odd photograph in the attic. She knows the two children in it are her mother, Claire, and her aunt Dulcie... -
The Girl and the Ghost by Hanna Alkaf
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsI am a dark spirit, the ghost announced grandly. I am your inheritance, your grandmother’s legacy. I am yours to command.Suraya is delighted when her witch grandmother gifts her a pelesit. She names her ghostly companion Pink, and the two quickly become inseparable...Categorized as:
children family friendship ghosts magical-realism paranormal retellings season-autumn -
The Witches of Santo Stefano by Wendy Webb
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsAn investigative journalist uncovers the haunting secret history of her own ancestors in a bewitching novel by the bestselling author of Daughters of the Lake.When Cassie Graves discovers her husband’s affair, it’s enough to chip away at the foundation of her life. But after researching her family’s Italian ancestry, it completely crumbles beneath her... -
Give Up the Ghost by Kelly Moran
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsParanormal investigator Kerry Baker has seen it all. But nothing in her work with the Phantoms TV program prepares her for the most terrifying spirit of all—seeing her doppelganger. Rumored to be a foreshadowing of one's death, the specter shakes Kerry to the core, sending her into the arms of her best friend and fellow cast member for comfort... -
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The Harder the Fall by Lauren Barnholdt
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsKendall has a crush - and the ghost of his mother has something to say about it. The second book in a hilariously haunting tween series.Kendall Williams talks to dead people all the time. Like it or not, it's kind of her thing - the ghosts need her help resolving issues from when they were alive, and she's good at figuring out their problems... -
The Missing Piece of Charlie O'Reilly by Rebecca Ansari
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsCharlie O’Reilly is an only child. Which is why it makes everyone uncomfortable when he talks about his brother. Liam, his eight-year-old kid brother, who, up until a year ago, slept in the bunk above Charlie, took pride in being as annoying as possible, and was the only person who could make Charlie laugh until it hurt.Then came the morning when the bunk, and Liam, disappeared forever... -
The Body at Auercliff by Amy Cross
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 10 ratings"We'll bury her so deep, even her ghost will have a mouth full of dirt!" When Rebecca Wallace arrives at Auercliff to check on her aged aunt, she's in for a shock. Her aunt's mind is crumbling, and the old woman refuses to let Rebecca stay overnight. And just as she thinks she's starting to understand the truth, Rebecca makes a horrifying discovery in one of the house's many spare rooms... -
Delicious Monsters by Liselle Sambury
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsThe Haunting of Hill House meets Sadie in this evocative and mind-bending psychological thriller following two teen girls navigating the treacherous past of a mysterious mansion ten years apart.Daisy sees dead people—something impossible to forget in bustling, ghost-packed Toronto. She usually manages to deal with her unwanted ability, but she’s completely unprepared to be dumped by her boyfriend... -
The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 85 ratingsNobody Owens, known to his friends as Bod, is a perfectly normal boy. Well, he would be perfectly normal if he didn't live in a graveyard, being raised and educated by ghosts, with a solitary guardian who belongs to neither the world of the living nor the world of the dead... -
Too Bright to See by Kyle Lukoff
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsA haunting ghost story about navigating grief, growing up, and growing into a new gender identityIt's the summer before middle school and eleven-year-old Bug's best friend Moira has decided the two of them need to use the next few months to prepare... -
Long Lost by Jacqueline West
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsEleven-year-old Fiona has just read a book that doesn’t exist. When Fiona’s family moves to be closer to her older sister’s figure skating club—and far from Fiona’s close-knit group of friends—nobody seems to notice Fiona’s unhappiness. Alone and out of place, Fiona ventures to the town’s library, a rambling mansion donated to the town by the long-dead heiress... -
Ghosts of Greenglass House by Kate Milford, Jaime Zollars
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsWelcome back to the irresistible world of Greenglass House where thirteen-year-old Milo is, once again, spending the winter holidays stuck in a house full of strange guests who are not what they seem. There are fresh clues to uncover as friends old and new join in his search for a mysterious map and a famous smuggler’s lost haul...Categorized as:
children family friendship ghosts magical-realism paranormal retellings action-adventure -
Switched by Sienna Mercer
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsWhen Olivia Abbott moves to town, she's excited to join the cheerleading team and make new friends. Then she meets Ivy Vega. At first, Ivy, pale and dressed all in black, looks like Olivia's opposite... -
The Ghosts of Tupelo Landing by Sheila Turnage, Lauren Fortgang
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsThe eagerly anticipated followup to the Newbery honor winner and New York Times bestseller, Three Times LuckySmall towns have rules. One is, you got to stay who you are -- no matter how many murders you solve.When Miss Lana makes an Accidental Bid at the Tupelo auction and winds up the mortified owner of an old inn, she doesn't realize there's a ghost in the fine print...Categorized as:
children family friendship ghosts magical-realism paranormal realistic action-adventure -
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House of Hollow by Krystal Sutherland
Rated: 4.04 of 5 stars · 63 ratingsSeventeen-year-old Iris Hollow has always been strange. Something happened to her and her two older sisters when they were children, something they can’t quite remember but that left each of them with an identical half-moon scar at the base of their throats. Iris has spent most of her teenage years trying to avoid the weirdness that sticks to her like tar... -
The Red House by Tony Abbott
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsCould the road to the afterlife be a two-way street? After diving into Derek's world in books #1 and #2, readers are in for more spooky, sinister adventure in this latest installment.Derek didn't ask for this.It's bad enough that his brother's body is hosting a dead soul. Then there's that whole business of the evil dead waging war... -
Ghost of a Chance by Lauren Barnholdt
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsKendall takes drastic action when she encounters ghostly overwhelm in this third book in a tween series that Kirkus Reviews calls “bright, bubbly fun.”Kendall feels like she’s losing at life. The only people who will talk to her are ghosts, and she’s exhausted from trying to fix their problems... -
Just South of Home by Karen Strong
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsCousins Sarah and Janie unearth a tragic event in their small Southern town’s history in this witty middle grade novel that’s perfect for fans of Stella by Starlight, The Ghosts of Tupelo Landing, and As Brave as You.Twelve-year-old Sarah is finally in charge... -
Ghost Huntress: The Journey by Marley Gibson
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsTeen psychic Kendall Moorehead is about to embark on the most dangerous and shocking ghost hunt of her life. After all, it isn't every day that the ghost of Princess Diana steps in as a personal spirit guide. But Shy Di isn't the only surprise awaiting Kendall and her team of teen paranormal superstars as they begin a whirlwind tour of Europe with renowned TV medium Oliver Bates... -
The Ghost Backstage by Dori Hillestad Butler
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsKaz and Claire’s new detective agency is a success! Their latest case, though, is proving to be the hardest yet. When Claire’s classmate says he saw a ghost backstage while rehearsing the school play, Kaz goes to school with Claire to investigate... -
Ghost in the Attic by Dori Hillestad Butler
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsA brand-new young chapter book series from Edgar Award winner Dori Hillestad Butler! After successfully solving the mystery of the ghost in the library, Kaz and Claire land the first case for their detective agency--a haunted attic in a neighbor's home! With a little help from Grannie, Kaz and Claire discover that what appeared to be something spooky has a much simpler explanation...Categorized as:
children friendship ghosts paranormal action-adventure book children-books contemporary -
The Ghost at the Fire Station by Dori Hillestad Butler, Aurore Damant
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsWith a lot of searching and a lot of luck, Kaz has found his dog Cosmo, his little brother Little John, his grandmom, and his grandpops... -
Crossing Over by Elizabeth Cody Kimmel
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsWhat happens when ghosts take a road trip?One year older and a whole lot wiser, medium-in-training Kat Roberts finally seems comfortable healing the living dead. But when her free-spirited mother (aka professional medium) volunteers to chaperone her eighth-grade class trip to Old Montreal, Kat's problems become dead serious... -
The Ghost Next Door by Wylly Folk St. John
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsSherry Alston had never been told about her dead half-sister Miranda. So when Sherry came to visit her Aunt Judith, no one could explain the odd things that started to happen... -
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Legend of the Ghost Dog by Elizabeth Cody Kimmel
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsA thrilling mystery set against a stark landscape and the inspiration of Nome's real-life dog hero, Balto.Twelve-year-old Tee didn't think she believed in ghosts . . . until a walk in the woods around her new rural Alaskan home changes her mind. She and her beagle, Henry, are stalked by a wolfish, decidedly spooky shadow. There's something out there - and it's not of this world... -
The In-Between by Rebecca Ansari
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsCooper is lost. Ever since his father left their family three years ago, he has become distant from his friends, constantly annoyed by his little sister, Jess, and completely fed up with the pale, creepy rich girl who moved in next door, who won’t stop staring at him.So when Cooper learns of an unsolved mystery his sister has discovered online, he welcomes the distraction...Categorized as:
children family friendship ghosts magical-realism paranormal spooky action-adventure -
American Gothic Tales by Joyce Carol Oates, Charles Brockden Brown
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsJoyce Carol Oates has a special perspective on the “gothic” in American short fiction, at least partially because her own horror yarns rank on the spine-tingling chart with the masters. She is able to see the unbroken link of the macabre that ties Edgar Allan Poe to Anne Rice and to recognize the dark psychological bonds between Henry James and Stephen King... -
The Year of Shadows by Claire Legrand
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsOlivia wants a new life—and her wish might be granted by the unlikeliest allies. A heartfelt, gently Gothic novel from Claire Legrand that School Library Journal calls a “not-too-scary ghost story.”Olivia Stellatella is having a rough year... -
Gilda Joyce: The Ghost Sonata by Jennifer Allison
Rated: 4.07 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsWhen her best friend, Wendy Choy, qualifies to compete in an international piano competition in Oxford, England, irrepressible Gilda Joyce finds a way to get an invitation herself—as a page-turner. Wendy settles into an exhausting practice schedule, made worse by strange nightmares, while Gilda finds herself falling in love with a British boy...Categorized as:
children friendship ghosts magical-realism paranormal realistic action-adventure audiobook -
Ghost Dog Secrets by Peg Kehret
Rated: 4.07 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsEach day, sixth-grader Rusty feeds a dog that's left chained in the frigid weather with no shelter, food, or water. When he realizes the dog has been injured, he tries to have Animal Control help - but when that fails, Rusty and his friend Andrew unchain the dog and take it... -
Diavola by Jennifer Marie Thorne
Rated: 4.07 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsJennifer Thorne skewers all-too-familiar family dynamics in this sly, wickedly funny vacation-Gothic. Beautifully unhinged and deeply satisfying, Diavola is a sharp twist on the classic haunted house story, exploring loneliness, belonging, and the seemingly inescapable bonds of family mythology.Anna has two rules for the annual Pace family destination vacations: Tread lightly and survive... -
Malamander by Thomas Taylor
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsNobody visits Eerie-on-Sea in the winter... -
Dead Voices by Katherine Arden, Катрин Арден
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsBestselling author Katherine Arden returns with another creepy, spine-tingling adventure in this follow-up to the critically acclaimed Small Spaces.Having survived sinister scarecrows and the malevolent smiling man in Small Spaces, newly minted best friends Ollie, Coco, and Brian are ready to spend a relaxing winter break skiing together with their parents at Mount Hemlock Resort... -
The Haunting of Aveline Jones by Phil Hickes
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsAveline Jones loves reading ghost stories, so a dreary half-term becomes much more exciting when she discovers a spooky old book. Not only are the stories spine-tingling, but it once belonged to Primrose Penberthy, who vanished mysteriously, never to be seen again. Intrigued, Aveline decides to investigate Primrose's disappearance.Now someone... or something, is stirring... -
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Lanny by Max Porter
Rated: 4.04 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsThere’s a village sixty miles outside London. It’s no different from many other villages in England: one pub, one church, red-brick cottages, council cottages and a few bigger houses dotted about. Voices rise up, as they might do anywhere, speaking of loving and needing and working and dying and walking the dogs... -
Tunnel of Bones by Victoria E. Schwab
Rated: 4.07 of 5 stars · 39 ratingsTrouble is haunting Cassidy Blake . . . even more than usual.She (plus her ghost best friend, Jacob, of course) are in Paris, where Cass's parents are filming their TV show about the world's most haunted cities. Sure, it's fun eating croissants and seeing the Eiffel Tower, but there's true ghostly danger lurking beneath Paris, in the creepy underground Catacombs... -
Skeleton Creek #1 by Patrick Carman
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsThe first book in the breakthrough series from bestselling author Patrick Carman, featuring text and technology in an innovative new way. Strange things are happening in Skeleton Creek . . . and Ryan and Sarah are trying to get to the heart of it... -
The Keepers of Metsan Valo by Wendy Webb
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsThe spirits of Nordic folklore come calling in this entrancing tale of family secrets and ancient mysteries by the #1 Amazon Charts bestselling author of The Haunting of Brynn Wilder.In Metsan Valo, her family home on Lake Superior, Anni Halla’s beloved grandmother has died. Among her fond memories, what Anni remembers most vividly is her grandmother’s eerie yet enchanting storytelling... -
Spirit Hunters by Ellen Oh
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsWe Need Diverse Books founder Ellen Oh returns with Spirit Hunters, a high-stakes middle grade mystery series about Harper Raine, the new seventh grader in town who must face down the dangerous ghosts haunting her younger brother... -
The Ghost's Grave by Peg Kehret
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsWhat Josh thought would be the dullest summer of his life, spent with his eccentric great-aunt, turns chilling when he meets the ghost of a coal miner killed in a mine explosion. Willie has been waiting years for some kind soul to dig up his leg and rebury it with the rest of him--only then will he be at peace... -
The Farm by Amy Cross
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsOne farm. Two tragedies, thirty years apart. And a tortured figure whose presence connects both incidents... In 1979, the Bondalen family farm in Norway is home to three young girls. As winter fades to spring, Elizabeth, Kari and Sara each come to face the secrets of the barn, and they each emerge with their own injuries... -
Bridge of Souls by Victoria E. Schwab
Rated: 4.03 of 5 stars · 38 ratingsWhere there are ghosts, Cassidy Blake follows ... unless it's the other way around?Cass thinks she might have this ghost-hunting thing down. After all, she and her ghost best friend, Jacob, have survived two haunted cities while travelling for her parents' TV show.But nothing can prepare Cass for New Orleans, which wears all of its hauntings on its sleeve... -
Resurrectionists by Kim Wilkins
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsYoung Australian cellist Maisie Fielding is bored with her career and her overpowering, manipulative musical family. Faking a wrist injury, she takes time off to return to England, her mother's home country, to search for her own roots and to find out more about her grandmother, a 'white witch' who settled in a bleak village on the North Yorkshire coast... -
Spirit's Key by Edith Cohn
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsSpirit's Key is a mystery with a bit of magic for fans of Savvy and Because of Winn Dixie.By now, twelve-year-old Spirit Holden should have inherited the family gift: the ability to see the future. But when she holds a house key in her hand like her dad does to read its owner's destiny, she can’t see anything...Categorized as:
children family friendship ghosts magical-realism paranormal action-adventure animals -
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The Glass Guardian by Linda Gillard
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsRuth Travers has lost a lover, both parents and her job. Now she thinks she might be losing her mind.When death strikes again, Ruth finds herself the owner of a dilapidated Victorian house on the Isle of Skye: "Tigh na Linne", the summer home she shared as a child with her beloved Aunt Janet, the woman she'd regarded as a mother... -
Paola Santiago and the River of Tears by Tehlor Kay Mejia
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsSpace-obsessed 12-year-old Paola Santiago and her two best friends, Emma and Dante, know the rule: Stay away from the river. It's all they've heard since a schoolmate of theirs drowned a year ago...Categorized as:
children family friendship ghosts magical-realism paranormal retellings action-adventure -
American Fantastic Tales: Terror and the Uncanny from Poe to the Pulps by Peter Straub, Edgar Allan Poe
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsStraub, a contemporary master of literary horror and fantasy, offers an authoritative and diverse gathering of stories calculated to unsettle and delight. Ghostly narratives of the Edwardian era, lurid classics from the pulp heyday, and modern-day masterpieces are included in these collections... -
The Ghost Road by Tony Abbott
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsCould the road to the afterlife be a two-way street? Reader reviews are in, and Tony Abbott is capturing the middle-grade fantasy audience with this new series!Derek can't claim to be a normal fourteen-year-old anymore. Not after what he discovered at the Red House. His role in the war against the dead is more pivotal --- and more terrifying --- than he could have imagined... -
The Ruin of Delicate Things by Beverley Lee
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsBarrington Hall is a place of secrets - something Dan Morgan has worked hard to forget. But when a heart-breaking loss brings him back to the place where he spent his childhood summers, Barrington Hall will do what it must to make him remember.Faye Morgan blames her husband for the death of their teenage son. She doesn’t want to leave the place Toby called home... -
The House That Whispers by Lin Thompson
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 5 ratingsFrom the author of The Best Liars in Riverview comes a subtle exploration of gender identity, family, and the personal ghosts that haunt us all, perfect for fans of Kyle Lukoff and Ashley Herring Blake. Eleven-year-old Simon and his siblings, Talia and Rose, are staying the week at Nanaleen's century-old house. This time, though, it’s not their usual summer vacation trip...
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