Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an advanced copy of Riley's Ghost by John David Anderson for me to preview. It is a title that will definitely be checked out often in my library.

Nope. I wouldn’t recommend this to my kids (which is why I tried it to begin with). Just too dark. It is very real on the emotions. But for the age range I just don’t think I could recommend it.

Thanks to HarperCollins Children's Books, Walden Pond Press, and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book.

I absolutely loved Ms. Bixby's Last Day and really enjoyed Posted, both by John David Anderson. I had such high expectations for Riley's Ghost, but this one just wasn't a hit for me. It was very slow and when the end finally came, it didn't flow with the rest of the story. There are some good messages about bullying, but I think there are better books out there that you can use with middle-grade students.

I loved Posted by John David Anderson and was very excited to see another book of his coming out! Riley's Ghost is the heartbreaking story of a young girl who truly feels like she's all alone. Her best friend has left her behind for the "cool girls" who torment her endlessly. When they lock her in the school after hours and she can't find her way out, she befriends her shadow as a means of survival. I think this story will really resonate with middle-grade readers and hopefully give them a sense of hope and independence.

*Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy for review*

This is a tough one - the book is so raw and real that it's incredibly effective, but I think I would hesitate to recommend it to the kind of kid who would need it.

Riley is in 7th grade and just as lonely as she'd predicted; her one friend has ditched her and she's the frequent target for bullies (sometimes for no reason, but it doesn't help that she's not very good at controlling her temper). With no one to meet her at home until late, Riley takes her time leaving school but runs into an old enemy. When she antagonizes her, Riley finds herself locked in a supply closet and abandoned. Just as she abandons hope, the closet unlocks and one of the dead dissection frogs try to talk to her. He eventually manages to explain that he's a ghost stuck at the school, and he's not the only one. There's the ghost of a girl haunting the school too, and her story is very similar to Riley's...

(Spoilers everywhere.) The other ghost is a girl named Heather, who's only friend was Max, our friend possessing the frog. He drifted away and froze her out, and she moved away and was killed in a car accident shortly after. She was briefly made fun of (out of habit, since she was horribly bullied her whole school career), but quickly forgotten, and her ghost haunts the school and Max. Max is convinced she's doing it out of malice and hate, but Riley realizes Heather just always wanted someone to care about and remember her, and hoped it could be Max. It's unclear whether or not it was actually Max or Heather holding Riley trapped in the school, but somehow she promises to remember Heather or something, and Max's ghost is released as Riley's former friend returns to rescue her. Later, in an incredibly short epilogue, 8th grade Riley reassures incoming 6th graders that it eventually gets better.

There's some pretty upsetting scenes of bullying in here, and not hinging is really actually resolved: the resolution with Heather is unclear, and Grace and her cronies are never faced with any on-page consequences. Since these are the main components of the plot, it's a strange and noticeable lack. What happened to Heather is truly tragic, and what Riley is going through is painful and just as tragic, and it hit too close to home for me. I was actually really upset after reading this book, since I was introduced to these two sad girls in unimaginable pain and left with only cliches to comfort me. It reminded me too much of myself. If I had read this book in middle school when I was in the thick of my depression and loneliness, I think much the same thing would have happened.

It's well written and engaging, if a little slow, and not scary but not vague enough to pass as realistic. I'm not sure who the audience is.

Riley is thirteen years old. During the summer, she makes a best girlfriend, Emily. They swear to be besties forever. When school starts, Emily becomes friends with the “cool girls”. Riley is forgotten. One day at school, she is watching a video on frog dissection. The classmates are busy dissecting their frogs. Suddenly Riley feels something on her lips, she wipes her lips. She can’t see or hear her classmates as she has headphones and glasses/visors to watch the video. She decides to take off the equipment she was using and caught the classmate putting the frog lips to her lips. When she says something to him, he responds with a snarky answer. The classmate gets in trouble and goes to the principal’s office. When the cool girls find out, they grab Riley at the end of the day and lock her in the science class with the dead frogs. Riley can’t get out. Her mother won’t be home as she is working the night shift and her dad is away working his job. What will Riley do? Riley’s problems go from bad to worse. Will she be able to survive the night?

The author has written a ghost story that involves more than one ghost. The author has included in the story the message of anti-bullying. The story’s narrative mixes Riley’s memories with the present horror she is experiencing, giving her a short reprieve from her fears. It slowly presents an account of outcasts, the friends who betrayed them and the trauma that Riley experiences. I liked how Riley stands up for herself even though she tries to control her anger. It’s a great book even though it’s creepy at times to read as it makes you realize people aren’t outcasts, they are real people.

Riley's Ghost is a slow burn story about the trials of middle school: Riley has been ditched by her best friend, and faces bullying from the popular girls. She herself has a hot temper, but is extremely lonely as she faces off against them. This leads to her getting locked in a school science closet and abandoned. This is where she meets her ghost... possessing a dissection frog.

Luckily this book isn't scary - the frog ghost just wants to escape the school and helps/uses Riley to do so. But the school is also full of ghosts, and facing them helps Riley face her own issues with bullying.

Storyline wise, it jumps around a lot with several flashbacks to Riley's past. It hinders the storytelling a little. It wraps up with the good moral of forgiving your bullies, but it falls a little flat as we don't really see Riley go through the process of healing herself. (Also, it tends to blame the victims a little.)

Some content warning for bullying.

This was quite the trip. I enjoyed getting to know Riley and really empathized with her and her struggles in middle school. I also enjoyed the hopeful ending and the possibility for a friendship rekindled.

There were too many "dam," "hell," and other words for me to put this in my K-5 library but I think it could work for a mature middle schooler.

The set up here is a solid one. The haunting of the school is clearly intended as a parallel for Riley's own sense of isolation. The thing is, it doesn't really feel very scary. Riley never feels properly threatened. She's not really at risk or targeted. She's just trapped. The atmosphere is more strange than frightening. It has more of a literal nightmare vibe than an actual scary story. While the whole scenario is fully explained, the ghost's motivation in picking Riley doesn't feel like enough. And since Riley is the only character with any depth, there isn't a lot of drive or motivation here. If you're looking for a scare or a psychological exploration you're probably better off looking elsewhere.

In this middle grade book, Riley is an outcast that is teased by the other kids in her class. After being locked in a closet after school hours, Riley discovers the school is haunted. This book is pretty spooky! While a departure from the usual Anderson style, I enjoyed the creepy factor and I think kids will too. I felt that the book was a bit rushed at the end and lacked some of the connections I was hoping for.

Riley’s Ghost by John David Anderson, 2022

Recommended for grades 6-8; Ghost story

Brief Review:

Seventh-grader Riley Flynn has gotten herself in trouble and attracted negative attention from her peers once again by tattling on a classmate who pulls a prank, trying to make her kiss a dissection frog. A group of stereotypical mean girls, including Riley’s ex-best-friend, retaliate by trapping Riley in the science room’s supply closet at the end of the day. By the time Riley escapes from the closet, the school is deserted. But as Riley explores the school, looking for a way out and trying to figure out why the doors won’t open from the inside, she realizes she’s not alone. One of the dissection frogs has become animated with the spirit of a former student named Max Trotter. And there’s another ghost, someone more sinister and powerful. Riley realizes that, in order to escape, she needs to find out who that ghost is and what it wants. This story takes place in a single day, but it’s interspersed with flashbacks and introspective passages allowing the reader to get to know Riley intimately with all of her flaws, past mistakes, and fears. Although Riley’s parents never make a direct appearance in the story, their relationship with Riley plays a significant role. In particular, her father’s ghost stories are alluded to constantly, mostly in the context of analyzing different kinds of fear. While this is a spooky, atmospheric ghost story that will appeal to fans of the genre, it’s also full of middle school drama and insightful discussion about friendship, loneliness, reputations, and bravery, which will appeal to kids who might usually prefer realistic fiction.

Long Review:

Seventh grader Riley Flynn is used to getting in trouble at school. Sure, some of those times were her fault; Riley is aware that she has a problem with impulse control. When her teacher Mr. Bardem lets Riley use a VR headset to watch a virtual dissection instead of cutting open a dead frog herself, some of her classmates prank her by holding a frog up to her mouth. Riley’s ensuing outburst gets both the perpetrator, Chris Winters, and herself in trouble. Unfortunately, Chris is in a middle-school relationship with Grace Turner, Northridge Middle School’s resident mean girl and the new best friend of Riley’s former best friend Emily Sauders.

Riley stays late after school because her mom is working a late shift, but Grace and her entourage including Emily also stay late for volleyball practice. Grace is furious at Riley for her “freak-out” that got Chris in trouble. Riley tries to escape the situation by apologizing, but Grace’s insults get to her and she turns on the snark and eventually slaps Grace. In retaliation, Grace and her friends push Riley inside the science room’s supply closet with all the dead frogs. and lock her inside.

Now that almost everyone has left the school, no amount of shouting or banging can alert anyone to Riley’s predicament. She can’t pick the lock, either. But suddenly, the closet opens and lets her out. And one of the dead frogs is moving. Riley tries to convince herself that she imagined it and tries to leave to go home to her microwave dinner and Chunky Monkey. But she can’t get out. Despite the fact that the school doors are supposedly always possible to open from the inside, they don’t open for Riley.

Over the next several hours, Riley explores the empty, darkened halls of her school, looking for a way out. She injures herself several times in the process and repeatedly crosses paths with the zombie frog, who turns out to be able to walk and talk. He explains that he’s a ghost using the frog’s body as a vessel; in fact, he is the spirit of a man named Max Trotter who died of a sudden heart attack, but had gone to Northridge Middle School himself. He insists that he isn’t the one who is preventing Riley from leaving the school. A series of spooky events gradually lead Riley to realize that Max isn’t the only ghost haunting the school. If she wants to get safely home, she’ll have to figure out who the other ghost is and what they want from her.

The main narrative all takes place in a single day, but the story is interspersed with flashback chapters that describe Riley’s home life, provide more backstory about the friendship between Riley and Emily, explain some of the past incidents that have given Riley a bad reputation, and offering commentary on the nature of ghost stories. You might not think that a story about a girl trapped alone can be stretched out to over 300 pages and still be interesting, but Riley is a complex, flawed, and very self-aware character who makes the plot work. Her internal monolog comes across as a little mature for elementary-school aged readers, so I would recommend it for readers Riley’s own age and I’m going to classify this book as YA.

While this is a spooky, atmospheric ghost story that will appeal to fans of the genre, it’s also full of middle school drama and insightful discussion about friendship, loneliness, reputations, and bravery, which will appeal to kids who might usually prefer realistic fiction. And I felt that it carries a fair amount of intellectual and emotional depth as it examines different kinds of fear. There’s the kind of fear evoked by the scary stories Riley’s dad likes to tell, which already come in several different subcategories which are scary for different reasons, but then there’s the kind of fear Riley experienced one time when they heard about an accident on the news and didn’t know whether Riley’s father was safe. There’s the kind of fear you feel when someone is physically threatening you and the kind of fear that comes with being trapped alone, but there’s also the fear of loneliness, of losing your friends, of being bullied and mocked. Riley herself shows bravery in the face of all of these different types of fears, but there’s plenty of room for thought about which situations she could have handled differently.

Thank you Netgalley and Harper Kids for the gifted book!

Riley Flynn has an awful day at school and as she is leaving some mean girls stuff her in a closet and leave her there. All alone in the school Riley is frantic to escape. Then she starts to realize that maybe she isn't all alone after all. I thought this one was appropriately creepy and I loved that Riley has to reflect on her own actions that have been a factor that has contributed to her outcast status at school. I, for most of the character arc, was concerned about Riley's bad behavior being celebrated, but I think that as the conclusion came around we realized Riley's growth through this experience. As an adult I can make the leap and the conclusions that Riley's behavior had to change and wasn't ideal, but I think that this book can't be blanketly recommended because some kids won't be able to come to those conclusions themselves.

Thank you to Netgalley and Walden Pond Press for the review copy of this book. I have read multiple books by John David Anderson from various genres and I have absolutely loved each one. They have heartfelt and humorous writing that grab the readers and take them on an adventure.

Riley’s Ghost makes me realize that John David Anderson can write anything. This book is a middle grade thriller that I found spine-tingling with that heart and humor I have come to expect from him. Riley is a lonely middle schooler who feels abandoned by her best friend. On the day her science class is dissecting frogs, a pack of mean girls (including her former best friend) lock her in the storage closet at the end of the day. As a result, she finds herself trapped in her middle school after hours, and someone or something is determined to keep her there. Although the novel takes place in one day, the story is told with intermittent flashbacks of Riley’s life. John David Anderson is an absolute auto-read author for me. Trigger warnings for bullying, and depression.

Riley Flynn is in middle school, which is a sad state of affairs, as middle school can be a quagmire of social dysfunction. Her best friend has ditched her for the mean girls, so add loneliness. Home isn't much better with her Dad, a train engineer, away from home for days on end, and her mother working long hours at the hospital, leaving Riley to fend for herself until late evening. On top of this, Riley is being bullied, but she has always been an independent sort, so she often responds with revenge, which she has come to realize is wrong (sometimes). That is the background of Riley's life in real time. Intertwined are flashbacks to her elementary days, which document her creative responses to being bullied, as well as wonderful descriptions of her father's ghost and horror stories, of which he has carefully explained the differences. This information comes in handy when Riley was forcibly locked into the science supply closet by the mean girls, and left to fend for herself for the rest of the night. She found she wasn't really alone, but to escape the closet and finally the school, she needs to unravel the the identities of the two ghosts, one who has taken over the body of a dissected frog. Both were students at the school in the '80s, and from the sounds of things not mush had changed. Schools can be eerie when they are deserted, and that sets the stage for some very scary episodes. Thoroughly enjoyed this book which was provided by netgalley and Walden Pond Press.

As I walk around the halls of our middle school on a daily basis I hear the whispers and see the emotions across faces - emotions filled with fear, anger, sadness. The stillness in looking for someone they might know or could feel elated to see, but a lot of time there's a loneliness to the hallways. Students who don't feel like they belong, or who are forcing themselves to belong - not always making the wisest decisions on who they spend their time with.

I dug into Riley's Ghost without realizing how obvious the connection to real life middle school truly was. Fear. It lives within the students on a day in and day out basis, and Riley's Ghost is a story that every single kid I teach could relate to.

I appreciated the complete honesty throughout this story that Anderson has written - he has such a way of connecting with middle school readers. I know the flashbacks may be harder for a younger group to follow along with, which could. make this for a good read aloud/discussion, but when it comes to 5th and up - I highly recommend.

There's a little bit of Riley in all of us, and I think sometimes facing those fears, the things you don't believe in until they're in your face, help us grow in ways we never thought possible

I thought this was a great book, especially for the things encountered and for the age group it was written for. I started to branch out and check out books for my niece and nephews and this is definitely one that I would share with them!

This book is part spooky ghost story and part middle school survival handbook. Riley often feels alone. She's parted ways from her best friend and her parents are rarely home due to their demanding jobs. And, she's never really felt like she fits in with other kids at school - they just make her so mad! When mean girls at school lock her in a school closet, she's visited by an unlikely ghost that just might help her escape the trap she's in - literally and metaphorically. This is a perfect pick for anyone who has ever felt like they don't belong.

Riley’s Ghost is well suited to be read by the upper range of MG, middle school and even high schools students. It deals with bullies, anger management, and fear. Readers who like to explore frightening circumstances and the sometimes grim realities of life will find lots to ponder while reading this one.

Thank you to Walden Pond Press and NetGalley for this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
Riley Flynn, age 13, has been alone for a while. Her father is a long-haul train engineer and her mother is a nurse working long hours at the hospital. Her best friend, Emily, has ditched her for the volleyball team. Riley isn’t the easiest person to get along with. She is quick-tempered and keeps to herself mostly. Her temper gets her in trouble when she is leaving school and Grace from the volleyball team gets in her face about an incident that occurred earlier in the day. Instead of walking away, Riley slaps Grace hard across the face. Grace exacts her revenge by locking her in the science supply closet. Riley yells, bangs on the door, and tries to pick the lock but nothing works. Then, suddenly, the door opens but there is no one around – everyone had left for the day. When Riley tries to leave the school, she finds herself trapped, that the doors will not open for her, a window crashed down almost crushing her fingers. Even more creepy things start to happen and Riley wonders if she’ll ever get home.
This is a creepy, and sometimes scary, middle grade novel. The bullying Riley received is very sad but all too common in middle school. The ending seemed a little off to me – I had to reread it but it didn’t seem to wrap everything up – maybe a sequel? My rating is really 4.5 stars, rounded up to 5. Recommended for those who like scary stories in fifth grade and up.
#RileysGhost #NetGalley

Ditched by her best friend, Emily, Riley Flynn is a lonely middle schooler who is bullied by the cool kids at school. When Riley gets targeted in science, it quickly goes south, leading her to face off with Emily and her new friends. Just when her day can’t get any worse, Riley finds herself locked in the science closet and left in the hands of the ghosts of her middle school.

We follow Riley, a lonely girl who goes back and forth between battling her hot temper and facing off with the kids who target her at school. I think the book perfectly captures how horrible middle school can be, especially when you don’t fit in with part or most of your peers. Everyone wants to be different, but those who are different get singled out, and that’s where Riley finds herself.

Locked in the science closet, Riley finds herself at the hands of the school ghosts. She meets Max, a ghost possessing one of the frogs being dissected in class, who just wants to escape the school. If he helps Riley, then she can help him finally be free of the hold the school has on him. The only problem is that the school is full of the ghosts who were once the bullies in Max’s class, and they’re all facing off against one ghost: Heather.

I think this book has an interesting concept, but we spent so much time bouncing around Riley’s memories leading up to the present that it honestly seemed like we were going to find out that Riley was a ghost all along. It would’ve been great if it turned out that Riley was Heather, and that she had no idea that she had been dead for many years, but that wasn’t the case.

It also seems like the overall message is to forgive your bullies rather than holding onto all the hurt they caused. While that’s a nice sentiment, we see the process jump from A to Z by the time the book is over. I just wish that we got to see more of the process of healing for Riley to get to the point of being willing to forgive and let it all slide. We see that process begin for her, but the process is expedited once she learns what happened among the ghosts and that’s not a realistic example for readers who are currently being bullied.

Overall, I think this is an interesting concept, but I’m not sure about the message for readers. This turned out to not be my cup of tea, but I think young readers who enjoy ghost stories will likely enjoy it.