Cold Whispers

This series provides eight spine-tingling tales to delight young readers in search of mystery and the macabre. Each of the tales focuses on a different location, from cemeteries and amusement parks to haunted houses and caves. These stories pack enough suspense, ghosts, vampires, monsters, and curses to satisfy children who are looking for “scary books.” Questions at the end of each book invite readers to use higher order thinking skills, making these titles appropriate for classroom reading and discussion. Glossary. Table of Contents. Recommended.

Twelve-year-old Leo Colsen awakes from a frightening dream, where he was walking through a haunted fun house to the sound of a soft voice seeking help and giving him directions. Leo, believing the desperate cry is real, scribbles down the directions and hops on his bike. At the end of a dirt road, he finds an old-fashioned, fully functioning amusement park! In the fun house, he hears the same soft cry for help from his dream. One week later, Leo returns with two friends, but all they find is an abandoned amusement park with the ruins of a fun house and a rusted memorial sign for a boy who died there years earlier in a fire. The book’s oversize format, large font, broad white borders, and plentiful colored illustrations make it ideal for reluctant readers or those transitioning to chapter books. Highlighted vocabulary is collected in a glossary, and discussion questions follow the story. Part of the Cold Whispers series, this tale has just enough ghoulish fright and will attract adventuresome readers.