NCW Libraries

"Maria has never gotten over her sister Isabella's death . . . and the guilt she feels about what happened. It hangs over everything she does, even an innocent slumber party with her two best friends. When one friend suggests they play a game that summons the spirits of the dead, Maria thinks it's all make-believe. But then she starts to hear from a spirit -- a spirit claiming to be her sister. Maria doesn't want to think it's possible. . . but...

Perfect for fans of Hatchet and the I Survived series, this harrowing middle grade debut novel-in-verse from a Pushcart Prize-nominated poet tells the story of a young girl who wakes up one day to find herself utterly alone in her small Colorado town. When twelve-year-old Maddie hatches a scheme for a secret sleepover with her two best friends, she ends up waking up to a nightmare. She's alone--left behind in a town that has been mysteriously evacuated...

Tonight is the Big Night sleepover at Dunwiddle Magic School, when all the fifth graders stay overnight at school and participate in the scavenger hunt, except Nory's friend Elliott is attending a concert at rival Sage Academy where he plans to attend after the winter break--but if Nory can convince her fellow upside-down magic friends to take the hunt seriously, cooperate, and win, than maybe she can convince Elliott to stay at Dunwiddle.