Book to Share: The Girl in the Window, by Lindsey Hobson

Happy Marvelous Middle Grade Monday, and happy Middle Grade March! I've got such a fun line up of books I hope to read this month, share with my kids, and share with all of you (you can check out my hopefuls on Instagram), and today I'm starting with a new middle grade ghost story: The Girl in the Window, by Lindsey Hobson, published by Monarch Books.

Here's the publisher's description:

When Izzy breaks a window in the creepy house next door, her summer plans suddenly go from playing baseball in the backyard to doing yard work for mysterious Mr. Johnson to pay for the damage. Just when she thinks it can't get any worse, she encounters a ghost girl with a cryptic HELP ME. As Izzy begins to unravel the mystery surrounding the girl's death, she discovers a whole new meaning to being friends... forever.

What I liked:

I always enjoy sibling stories, and the sibling dynamic in this was realistic and a lot of fun.

It's been a while since I read a good kids-playing-baseball-in-the-backyard book, and I loved that element! (Anyone have any good recommendations of other books that fit that bill?)

One of my favorite story tropes, no matter how often it may be done, is that of misjudging someone and learning you were wrong. It's such an important lesson, isn't it? One I need to be reminded of, over and over and over. I hope it's not too much of a spoiler, but that theme features heavily in The Girl in the Window.

There were a few things that kept this from being a five-star read for me: I know, I know, my husband is an artist and I'm extremely picky. But I wish the publishers had gone with a different direction with the cover, which I felt didn't express the overall feel of the story very well. I also felt that the shift from not-as-spooky-as-you'd-think to very-spooky was very jarring. I'm all for fun twists, but the editor in me wanted to see more foreshadowing throughout. Overall, however, I found this to be a fun and interesting story that middle grade fans of Nancy Drew, who like a taste of the suspenseful and scary, will very much enjoy!

For more Marvelous Middle Grade Monday recommendation, check out Always in the Middle.