This is the second book I've read in the Haunted States of America series. I love the stories are short and easy to read in one sit as well as being entertained by a ghost story. The series so far is a great pallet cleanser between more serious books I've been reading lately. Another aspect I love about this series is it gives me nostalgic feelings of spooky shows I watched as a child, like Goosebumps and Are you Afraid of the Dark?

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

This is a middle grade that is short and fast pace. I love the history of Chicago this book as worked into it. There is ghost and scary things in this book. I all the characters of the book, and the little boy was a great point of view to follow. I wish the ghost was more of a part of the book. Maybe if the ghost talked to the little boy more and share more about what happened to him. The ending was not a great ending. I was kindly provided an e-copy of this book by the publisher (Jolly Fish Press) or author (Thomas Kingsley Troupe) via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review about how I feel about this book, and I want to send a big Thank you to them for that.

A cute and spooky story that will surely be appreciated by adult and children.
it's well written, the plot flows and the characters are interesting.
Recommended
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

Ben and his younger sister, Lola are taking a trip to their grandparents by bus. Ben wishes he didn’t have to keep an eye on her but his parents expect him to. After meeting his grandparents, they go to their new home (an apartment). His grandfather is excited to take them to a baseball game — to see the Chicago Cubs at the Wrigley Field. On their first night with the grandparents, they go to a pizza restaurant. On the way back to the apartment, Ben notices a glint in the ground. He bends over and picks up a dirty small metal boat. Ben wonders if it an antique. He washes off the boat in the bathroom and puts it in his bedroom. He wakes up due to a noise. When he goes looking, he sees a small boy hiding behind the aquarium. The small boy turns out to be a ghost. Ben is scare and jumps when his grandfather puts his hand on Ben’s shoulder. Ben doesn’t tell him about the ghost. Why? Ben becomes haunted by the boy ghost. What will Ben do? Why is the ghost haunting him?

The author has included historical facts withi the story so smoothly that you don’t realize it. It’s interesting to see how Ben deals with the ghost. I also enjoyed getting to know his grandparents and his sister Lola. It isn’t so scary that I don’t think anyone will be afraid of the ghost in the story. It is a middle grade story that will give the reader some facts about Chicago (I didn’t know and I have visitedChicago many times). Make sure to read this fun story!

I really enjoyed Haunt and Seek, it was a great little read.

Aimed at middle graders this book was the perfect length to introduce your child to ghosts and spooky stories. And spooky it was, even as an adult I was a bit freaked out by the ghost!

The book itself flowed really well, the story progressed with every page we read and the pictures inbetween pages helped bring Haunt and Seek to life and helped me personally to visualise the characters. The pictures were beautiful too.

One of my absolute favourite parts was how the history of Chicago was woven in to the book, it was like a ghost story and history book into one, perfect for middle graders.

The ending of Haunt and Seek melted my heart, as did the family dynamic and relationship that was shown throughout the story. It was just lovely to read.

For middle graders I cannot recommend this book enough.

10/10 would recommend this as a way to introduce your child to spooky books. It's a fairly short, fast paced book with characters that you dont mind spending time with and illustrations that are simply adorable.
Lola is a sassy, no holds barred little sister who youd both loathe and love to have while Ben is a bit more reserved but equally as fun to read. I connected more with Lola than I did Ben, even though he was our main character, but that's not unusual for my reading experiences so I'm not sure that I can wholly blame the book for that.
The dynamic between Ben, Lola and their grandparents is heart-warming and the paranormal events do not change how the interact with each other. In fact, when the first encounter happens and Ben is left confused everyone is very supportive of him. There isn't anyone making fun of him or taking advantage of his confusion.
Did I wish that there were some moments that weren't quite as rushed so as to build the mystery and spook factor a bit more? Yes. However, the conclusion perfectly suited the story. It was satisfying and hopeful. All in all, this story just works.

Thank you to Jolly Fish Press for sending me an ARC via netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
3/5 stars.

I’m a little disappointed by this book because it wasn’t what I thought it would be. It was a short and sweet story about Ben who finds a toy boat and starts seeing a little boy. Ben isn’t sure what’s happening, but he thinks the boy and the boat are connected. After learning about a boat tragedy where hundreds of people died, Ben begins to think the little boy is a ghost who perished in the tragedy.
Ben and his sister Lola aren’t sure what to do, so they contact the historical group about the boy because they have a picture that he showed up in, and they’re contacted by a member of the boy’s family. Ben mails the family the boat, and hopes that the boy will be happy he is finally being found by his family.
This book was really short, and I would have liked it to be longer because I really wanted a creepy ghost story, and this just didn’t quite hit the mark for me. There were a couple of parts where the atmosphere was a bit creepier, but it moved on quickly. I wanted the ghost part of the story to be a lot more, and it just didn’t deliver in the way I thought it would.
I also felt like Ben didn’t really act his age. He was supposed to be almost 15, but it felt more to me like he was around 12. This didn’t really impact the story much, but I was expecting a little more from the character because of his age.
Overall, this was a really quick read. I’d recommend it for younger elementary readers. The feel of the story reminded me a bit of Goosebumps but a lot less scary.

Thank you to Netgalley and North Star Editions / Jelly Fish Press for a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are my own.

I really enjoyed Haunt and Seek by Thomas Kingsley Troupe. I thought it was a really fun paranormal adventure. While I have enjoyed middle grade in the past, I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this one. While reading this book I had my curiosity peaked and I simply had to do some research. I found out the SS Eastland is an actual boat and the events of that boat's tragedy layout the plot for the story. I love how the author used a real life event to really bring the story to life.

I really like this authors writing style. It's a quick and easy read that just flies by. I was throughly entertained throughout the whole book.

This is a ghost story so obviously it is supposed to have a little scare factor. While as an adult I didn't find it scary, I think it has the right amount of creepy for a middle grade child. If you have a middle grader who enjoys ghost stories I would suggest giving this one a shot.

Haunt and Seek by Thomas Kingsley Troupe is a middle grade story about a teenager who experiences a haunting while visiting his grandparents in Chicago. The haunting is a bit spooky, but not scary, so it would be appropriate for the age range. This is a short story, so I don’t want to tell to many details at the risk of spoilers.
I enjoyed the history of Chicago that was interspersed throughout this story. As an adult, I will say that I learned information in this story that I’ve never heard before now. One part of the story was the sinking of the SS Eastland, where 844 people died. I had never heard of this and was definitely interested. Honestly, I would like to read an adult version of this tale it was that interesting.

This is the third book by Troupe that I have read and each one is a fantastic journey into the paranormal. In Haunt and Seek, Ben and his sister, Lola, are visiting their grandparents in Chicago for the weekend and experience far more than a Cubs game and tour of the city--Ben gets haunted. In 1915, the Eastland sank on the Chicago River and, unfortunately, not all passengers were found. As Ben works to uncover the truth of his new hide-and-seek playmate, we learn a lot about Chicago's history. Told in a very straight-forward pace (as all Troupe's books are), this book is sure to engage readers and keep them reading until the very end. A must-have for any odd history and paranormal fan.

Thank you NetGalley and North Star Editions for the opportunity to read an advance reading copy.

Thank you Net Galley for this free arc in return for a honest review.

I really enjoyed this creepy ghost story. It was a quick and enjoyable read for me. Ben finds an old metal boat while visiting his grandparents in Chicago. After he finds this boat he starts seeing this young boy appear wherever he goes.

For this story being a short story, I thought the pace of it was nice and fast while keeping the reader very engaged in the story. Ben and his sister Lola were very likable characters. Overall I though this was a great quick read that had me creeped out at times.

Really cute story about a young man who finds a toy boat and begins to see the boy who lost it. It is definitely creepy but not too scary. I enjoyed this spooky story.

Hide and seek is a short story about Ben, who finds a toy-like boat one day. And from that day on, he sees a little boy everywhere it goes.

Even though it was a short story, I really felt like everything worked out nicely. The pacing was solid and steady, nothing happened too fast or too slow, even the ending. The characters didn’t feel flat but instead well worked out, even though they weren’t many. As a reader, I could easily picture the surroundings, even though I have never been to Chicago or even close.

And I loved the spookiness of the story, especially for one so short. If you are easily scared but want to pick something up for Halloween, this is definitely an option to consider. It also comes with beautifully done black and white illustrations.

Lastly, the big event the story is about, is unfortunately a real one. I must say I never heard of it, but I did find it interesting to read about. It reminded me that there are so many events that many people don’t know, and featuring them in books is a great way to teach people about them without overwhelming them.

Thomas Kingsley Troupe has written a nice, easy to read ghost story that will appeal to children who are interested in these kinds of things.

Haunt and seek is a story about Ben and his sister who go to stay with their grandparents for the weekend. Everything goes along nicely until Ben finds a metal toy boat and takes it home with him.

We are given some lore about Chicago and a marinetime disaster that happened before the boat even undocked. The pictures were a nice touch, I really liked seeing how close I was to correctly visualizing what was going on. The pace was fast enough that I was not discouraged and could keep reading.

I have rated this 3 stars on goodreads.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and North Star Editions/Jolly Fish Press for the Earc to read and review.

I really enjoyed the setting of this book. I also loved learning about some of the history of Chicago that I didn't know about. I liked the relationship between the siblings. I wish it had more of the siblings' relationship. I would recommend this book to anybody who likes a creepy setting and solving a mystery.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and North Star Editions/Jolly Fish Press for the Earc to read and review.

What a creepy story, the little boy ghost was creepy, simple as.

It was so very creative with the little haunted boat, the boy following them everywhere, having attached himself to them. I liked that even with this going on the characters still did what they’d planned and didn’t let it effect them too much, nor did they bring their grandparents in on the issues, the kids though scared dealt with it themselves.

It wasn’t scary at all, and would be very suitable for any ages to read it. The story was really fun, very creative, slightly creepy, and has a true sad story you’ll learn attached to it.

One thing I was sad to know at the end in the facts section was that this wasn’t based on a real thing, I really thought that the haunted little boat would be an actual real thing. I was very shocked that this story was fully made up, it was very convincing that it was real.