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 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

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.