‘Scareville: Got Ghosts?’ is a fright for kids | Book Talk

“Scareville: Got Ghosts?” is fifth in a children’s horror series by Canton author John Ward.

Dean Lockwood is bullied in school because his parents and grandparents are paranormal investigators. They call him “Casper” and other names. When Dean was 6, he encountered a demon, but in the ensuing years — he’s now 13 — there’s been nothing supernatural.

Dean’s friend Dylan is more enthusiastic about the paranormal than Dean, but Dean comes around when the boys and their friend Macy investigate an abandoned orphanage that’s reputed to be haunted. The trio enter the dilapidated building and hear footsteps, a child’s laughter and a door slamming. They agree that ghosts are real.

The next day the bullies again harass him, and he blurts out a dare for the boys to meet him, Dylan and Macy at New Hope at midnight. That evening, Dean figures out how to get into the locked basement room where his parents keep their equipment. This is a bad decision because it gets him into trouble with his parents, and also because there is a monster in the room.

Though the book is recommended for readers as young as 7, the scares are real here. The teens’ experience is terrifying.

Each of the four previous books in the Scareville series has a different protagonist; Book One, “Welcome to Scareville,” is set in Lakewood. A sixth book is forthcoming.

“Scareville: Got Ghosts?” (172 pages, softcover) costs $13.99 from online retailers. JohnWard is a graduate of Norton High School.

‘Olly & the Spores’

Conservation and nature are themes in an inventive middle-grade series by Brunswick resident Glenn Somodi about a boy who finds magical creatures.

In Book One, “Olly & the Spores of Oak Hill,” a Medina family moves to Massachusetts after the patriarch, an eccentric former Harvard professor, is killed in a hit-and-run incident. Poppy had lost his position when he started talking about the woodland creatures he had befriended, and had started making clothes made of grapevines and pine cones.

Poppy’s will included a map and key for his teen grandson Olly, and a wish that Olly take care of Poppy’s “special garden.” Olly, a self-described “nature geek,” has an avid interest in plants and botany, and he’s not well liked in his Medina school, so he’s fine with the move.

A new school comes with new bullies, and Olly and his new friend Ember are being chased in the woods by the rough kids when they hear a small voice “Look for the door,” it says. They see a symbol in a rock wall, touch it, and find themselves among the colony of the spores, the friendly anthropomorphic mushrooms from Poppy’s description.

With the help of the Spores, Olly and Em foil the attempts of the devious robber baron to seize Poppy’s land.

The conservation theme continues in Book Two, “Olly & the Spores of Sapphire Creek.” Olly and Em bring their parents in on the secret of the Spores. They have learned that Poppy had been sending mysterious packages from Littleton, Massachusetts, to Littleton, Colorado, and receiving packages in return.

The Colorado address is that of a friend who maintains a Spore outpost, and the goal is to establish other communities elsewhere. There’s been some toxic waste dumping near an old mine Poppy owned and the Massachusetts contingent heads West to investigate.

A highlight of the series is the affectionate and supportive relationship between Ollie and Em.

“Olly & the Spores of Oak Hill” (273 pages) and “Olly & the Spores of Sapphire Creek” (238 pages) cost $12.95 in softcover from online retailers.

Events

Cleveland Public Library: Heather Gudenkauf appears virtually to talk about her mystery thriller “Everyone is Watching,” 7 p.m. Monday. Register at cpl.org.

Stow-Munroe Falls Public Library (3512 Darrow Road, Stow): Douglas Brunt, author of “The Mysterious Case of Rudolph Diesel and Ghosts of Manhattan,” joins the Online Author Talk Series with “Genius, Power, and Deception on the Eve of World War I,” 3 to 4 p.m. Wednesday. From 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Hudson writer Caleb Thusat, author of the World War II ghost story “Nook,” appears in person as part of Free Comic Book Day.

Kent State University Library (1125 Risman Drive): “Funky Winkerbean” and “Crankshaft” cartoonist Tom Batiuk signs his work, 3 to 5 p.m. Wednesday.

Medina County District Library (Brunswick branch, 3649 Center Road): Natalie D. Richards hosts Bookends Book Club to talk about her middle-grade debut thriller “15 Secrets to Survival,” 4 to 5 p.m. Wednesday. Register at mdcl.info.

Medina County District Library (210 S. Broadway St., Medina): Natalie D. Richards discusses her thriller “Four Found Dead,” 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. Wednesday. Register at mdcl.info.

Hudson Library & Historical Society (96 Library St.): University of Michigan law professor talks about “Attack from Within: How Disinformation is Sabotaging America,” 6:30 p.m. Wednesday. At 7 p.m. Thursday, Tommy Tomlinson appears virtually to discuss “Dogland: Passion, Glory, and Lots of Slobber at the Westminster Dog Show.” Register at hudsonlibrary.org.

Cuyahoga County Public Library (Solon branch, 34125 Portz Parkway): Allan R. May talks about “Petro: Cleveland’s Handsomest Public Enemy, 7 to 8 p.m. Wednesday. Register at cuyahogalibrary.org.

Lakewood Public Library (15425 Detroit Ave.): Danielle Spencer signs “Digital Assassins: Surviving Cyberterrorism and a Digital Assassination Attempt,” 7 p.m. Wednesday.

Cuyahoga County Public Library (Parma-Snow branch, 2121 Snow Road): Rocco DiSpirito appears at a fundraiser to talk about “Everyday Delicious,” 7 to 8 p.m. Thursday. Admission is $50 and includes a copy of the book. Register at cuyahogalibrary.org

Learned Owl Book Shop (204 N. Main St., Hudson): Holly Brians Ragusa signs her work, including “Met the End” and poetry collection “Inverse: Informed Thoughts by an Unfit Poet,” 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday.

Salem Regional Hospital (Look Nook Gift Shop, 1995 E. State St.): Nancy Christie signs “Finding Fran,” second in her Midlife Moxie series, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Friday.

Cuyahoga County Public Library (South Euclid-Lyndhurst branch, 1876 S. Green Road, South Euclid): Kathy Ewing reads from “A Grandmother’s ABC Book,” 2 p.m. Saturday. Register at cuyahogalibrary.org.

Loganberry Books (13015 Larchmere Road, Cleveland): John Bernatovicz talks about “HR Like a Boss: Your Guide to Amazingly Awesome HR,” 3 p.m. Saturday.

Black Cat Books (420 S. Court St., Medina): Galaxies & Grimoires: A Sci-Fi & Fantasy Soiree features authors George Ebey, M.A. Frick, Evan Graham, Ella D. Lee and Nikki Robb, 6 to 8 p.m. Saturday.

Advance registration for an event sure to sell out: Amy Tan will talk about “The Backyard Bird Chronicles: A Nature Journal” at 6 p.m. May 6 at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History. Free, but registration is required at cmnh.org.

Email information about books of local interest, and event notices at least two weeks in advance to BeaconBookTalk@gmail.com and bjnews@thebeaconjournal.com. Barbara McIntyre tweets at @BarbaraMcI.

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This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: ‘Scareville: Got Ghosts?’ by John Ward is fifth in horror series