Book Review | Ghost in the Headlights by Lindsey Duga

Source: Preordered purchase. This is a review of my personal reading experience.

Ghost in the Headlights is Lindsey Duga's latest middle grade horror novel.

In this modern-day retelling of "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow," an angry ghost haunts a small-town road in search of revenge...

When Brianna Jenson agreed to move in with her cruel uncle Shane in rural Pennsylvania, she didn't expect to find herself in the middle of a terrifying town legend.

Every afternoon on her walk home from school, as the sun begins to set behind the overhanging branches of Shadowrun Road, Brianna hears footsteps following her -- footsteps that belong to no one. Then there's the car that races along the narrow country road with blinding lights and almost runs her over! That's when Brianna realizes... there's no one driving. It's almost as if someone -- or something -- is trying to get her attention.

As Brianna investigates what happened on Shadowrun Road, she discovers a town tragedy that has never been resolved. Can Brianna get to the bottom of this ghostly mystery before it's too late?

Ghost in the Headlights is the perfect book to give a young reader starting out on their horror journey. This is exactly the type of book young Jen would have loved to read.

In Ghost in the Headlights, Brianna has to stay with her uncle while her mother is away training for work. Brianna finds herself wrapped up in the mysterious local legend of a missing girl.

I loved Brianna and her friendship with Jacob as they try to solve the mystery of the ghost girl.

As an adult who loves middle grade fiction, Ghost in the Headlights is not one I would really recommend to other adults. Like The Haunting, Ghost in the Headlights is filled with classic tropes that most adults have experienced numerous times but are absolutely perfect for an younger audience.

My youngest is entering the realm of middle grade reading, and Ghost in the Headlights is a book I am excited to pass down to him.

⭐⭐⭐⭐★
4/5 stars

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Jen (@bookdenjen)

Book Review | The Haunting by Lindsey Duga

The Haunting is a middle grade horror novel by Lindsey Duga.

A dark family secret prompts a ghost to wreak havoc in this spooky novel in the spirit of Mary Downing Hahn.
The only life 12-year-old Emily has ever known is the cold, unloved existence of being an orphan. But everything changes when the Thorntons, a young couple from London, adopt Emily, whisking her away to a new life at their grand estate.

At first, life at Blackthorn Manor is wonderful. But as Emily explores the grounds and rooms, she stumbles upon a mysterious girl named Kat, who appears to be similar in age, and the two become fast friends.

That's when things take a turn for the worse. Kat seems to know a curious amount about the estate, and strange things happen whenever she's around. In one case, Emily narrowly avoids getting toppled by a bookcase in the library; in another, the fire erupts in the fireplace, nearly burning Emily's hands. It's almost as if someone -- or something -- wants Emily dead.

Emily must find out what happened to the Thorntons and, more important, how Kat is connected to these strange goings-on at Blackthorn Manor before it's too late!

This is exactly the kind of middle grade book I would have loved as a kid. This is going to show my age, but every time I went to the library, I'd look in the card catalog under "ghost" to see if there was anything new. The Haunting by Lindsey Duga would have been an instant favorite!

I know I'm not supposed to review middle grade for other adult readers, blah, blah, blah. Too bad because I am going to so prepare thyself. If you can't handle me saying this is a great book for kids but not so much for older readers - you've been warned.

I'm going to happily pass this book on to my boys. I think they would find it just scary enough to get creeped out by it. That's the beauty of young readers. They don't have a thousand stories in their minds and a thousand tropes that have come before when they pick up something new. The Haunting will be fresh and new and creepy.

If you are an adult reader who reads middle grade as one of your own personal genres - like I do! - The Haunting isn't going to feel particularly new. The Haunting reminded me of Little Orphan Annie - with Sandy and Miss Hannigan and Daddy Warbucks - which I enjoyed. The scares are fun, but they are also very traditional for a ghost story. The reader will know what's going on in The Haunting long before our main character Emily figures it out. This will be far more thrilling to younger readers.

This was my first time reading Lindsey Duga. She has written YA previously, but The Haunting was her middle grade debut. She has another middle grade horror coming out in March 2021 called Ghost in the Headlights so you know my inner Jen is excited to read that one next year as well.

⭐⭐⭐💫★
3.5/5 stars