A Properly Unhaunted Place

From National Book Award–winning author William Alexander comes a wryly humorous story about two kids who try to save their town by bringing back its ghosts.

Rosa Ramona Díaz has just moved to the small, un-haunted town of Ingot—the only ghost-free town in the world. She doesn’t want to be there. She doesn’t understand how her mother—a librarian who specializes in ghost-appeasement—could possibly want to live in a place with no ghosts. Frankly, she doesn’t understand why anyone would.

Jasper Chevalier has always lived in Ingot. His father plays a knight at the local Renaissance Festival, and his mother plays the queen. Jasper has never seen a ghost, and can’t imagine his un-haunted town any other way. Then an apparition thunders into the festival grounds and turns the quiet town upside down.

Something otherworldly is about to be unleashed, and Rosa will need all her ghost appeasement tools—and a little help from Jasper—to rein in the angry spirits and restore peace to Ingot before it’s too late.

“A profound and beautiful work.”
– Benjamin Alire Sáenz for the New York Times Book Review

“A Properly Unhaunted Place has everything a reader could want–mystery, adventure, humor, creepy ghosts, plus two brave and wonderful kid heroes at its heart. William Alexander is a master storyteller.”
–Anne Ursu, author of The Real Boy

“A fierce, formidable young hero faces off against ghostly intrigue. Alexander conjures up a clever, irresistible story of high-stakes supernatural action, grounded in friendship and family, fueled by the healing, decimating power of what haunts us all.”
–Cynthia Leitich Smith, author of the Feral trilogy

“William Alexander has conjured a sweetly hilarious tale in which our intrepid heroine Rosa must pacify angry ghosts in a world where even toasters and jukeboxes may be haunted. Beneath the fun lies a deep vein of wisdom–about the importance of memory and the dangers of abandoning the past.”
–Susan Fletcher, author of Shadow Spinner

“A fun and fast-paced supernatural mystery with secret depths for those who dare explore them.”
–Kirkus, starred review

“Alexander neatly inverts the typical ghost story, creating a supernatural landscape in which hauntings are part of the fabric of life and go hand in hand with respecting and honoring the departed.”
–Publisher’s Weekly

“As in any good haunting, the town’s backstory and ghost story are intimately related, and readers will follow along avidly as Alexander’s exciting episodes and resonant images lay out the connections.”
–The Horn Book

“Perfect for kids who like their creepy moments mixed with wildly imaginative elements.”
–Booklist

“A meticulously crafted world so tangible it feels like an alternate version of our own.”
-Lynn Becker for SCBWI Shelf Awareness, starred review

Signed and personalized copies are available at Bear Pond Books.

Unsigned copies can be purchased in all the usual ways from IndieBound, Powell’s, Barnes & Noble, and Amazon.

A Festival of Ghosts

“Alexander takes readers back to a contemporary world where ghostly haunts are part of daily life and librarians are specialists in appeasing the restless dead in this sequel to A Properly Unhaunted Place… While the first book in the series grappled with the consequences of grief avoidance, this addition turns outward, to the pain of remembering societal stories. Though not all history is pleasant, it all demands, quite forcefully, to be memorialized in some way in the town of Ingot. If mirrors are liminal spaces, perhaps this through-the-looking-glass world endeavors to shine its mirror on our contemporary struggles to honor and grieve the gray-hued past.”
– Kirkus

“Readers looking to continue with the adventures of Rosa and Jasper will be delighted with new supernatural dilemmas and dark twists.”
– School Library Journal

“Jasper effortlessly understands the living, perfectly balancing the pragmatic and capable Rosa, who feels a kinship with the dead. And Alexander’s message—that acceptance and empathy, not building walls, is the answer—will resonate.”
– Publisher’s Weekly

“There are some wonderful touches in Alexander’s follow-up to A Properly Unhaunted Place… Will Rosa and Jasper be able to puzzle out what connects all the ghostly action? Fans of the National Book Award–winning Alexander’s intricately plotted adventures will definitely want to find out.”
– Booklist

A Festival of Ghosts, Alexander’s follow up to A Properly Unhaunted Place, is as strong as the first, with Murphy’s dynamic pencil illustrations scattered throughout. Rosa and Jasper have all the makings of a terrific literary duo and as the pair grow more comfortable with each other, they affectionately banter their way through all the supernatural tasks, whether they are communicating with ghosts or keeping one step ahead of the people who believe in banishing ghosts forever.
-Lynn Becker for SCBWI Shelf Awareness, starred review

Signed and personalized copies are available at Bear Pond Books.

Unsigned copies can be purchased in all the usual ways from IndieBound, Powell’s, Barnes & Noble, and Amazon.