The Haunting of Aveline Jones: 1: The first spine-tingling book in the Aveline Jones series

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The Haunting of Aveline Jones is just perfectly spooky and yet so cozy - a bleak little English town by the sea, raging autmn storms, ghostly legends, an old second-hand bookshop, homely cottages, and warm fireplaces. With a spooky feel to the story as soon as it starts, Aveline gets swept up in a mystery that she is determined to solve despite her love of ghost stories actually making her quite scared.

The author says "I have a deep-rooted love of the British countryside and coast. They can be wild, wonderful and also scary places. All that history is soaked up and ever-present in the environment. You're surrounded by the ghosts of those who have gone before." I read this story in one day and loved it entirely. Feeling spooked, haunted and proud of Aveline all the way through to the end! Whether you read it on a sunny bright day or a rainy grey day, I am sure you will enjoy it! Aveline is forced to spend half term visiting her strict and formal Aunt Lilian in the little coastal town of Malmouth, days of boredom await her and she uses her love of ghost stories to pass the time finding a very old one full of tales, in a second hand bookshop where she meets shy and messy haired Harold and his Great Uncle. Aveline loves reading ghost stories, so a dreary half-term becomes much more exciting when she discovers a spooky old book. Not only are the stories spine-tingling, but it belonged to a girl called Primrose Penberthy, who vanished mysteriously, never to be seen again. Intrigued, Aveline decides to investigate Primrose’s disappearance, with some help from her new friend, Harold. The town has a sinister tradition for Halloween and Aveline is spooked by the child like scarecrows left or hung outside homes as Halloween approaches, little does she know of the townsThough this story does not necessarily deal, in a direct fashion, with the crime that saw Primrose Penberthy kidnapped from her home & though we are to believe that the ghost of Cora Poole was in fact the villain at the head of Primrose’s demise; I thought it important to leave a content warning at the beginning of this review because, having read this book in my adult years, I could not help but feel that a number of particularly critical young readers might regard Primrose’s disappearance in the 1980s as falling outside the realm of the supernatural. Therefore, should this review be found by someone looking out for the better interest of a young reader or should a certain someone come upon my words, may they be regarded as a caution to the conversations that might ensue after the reading of this story. The books are brimming with secrets from the past, magical forces, supernatural activity and LOTS of sneaking around! If there's one thing we can promise new Aveline Jones readers, it's that the books never get boring... LoveReading4Kids exists because books change lives, and buying books through LoveReading4Kids means you get to change the lives of future generations, with 25% of the cover price donated to schools in need. Join our community to get personalised book suggestions, extracts straight to your inbox, 10% off RRPs, and to change children’s lives. I am always intrigued by middle grade spooky books because it is a fine line to walk to make it spooky without stepping outside of the lines of the target group. I think The Haunting of Aveline Jones does that well. At the end of the day, many young kids are interested in spooky elements and ghosts and this book will appeal to many, just as Aveline will. Aveline is not looking forward to spending half term with her austere Aunt Lilian in Malmouth, a windswept village on the Cornish coast. Despite her fondness for ghost stories, she finds the town a little creepy, particularly when sinister scarecrows appear outside people’s homes in the lead up to Halloween.

I felt an affinity with the main character Aveline, as I to was obsessed with ghosts and all things that go bump in the night.I can't think of any real faults with this book - the characters were fleshed out, the atmosphere and tone was just unsettling enough and the pacing built from unsettled to chilling. It just hit the right notes for a middle grade ghost story, and I want MORE! Thank goodness this is the first in a series! This is one of the coolest middle grade covers I've seen this year, but unfortunately the story didn't live up to my expectations. What I did love though, was Aveline's voice, it felt authentic and made me want to read more books about this strange girl with a love of ghost stories. It is important to note that the majority of the themes explored in this book deal with sensitive subject matters. My review, therefore, touches on these topics as well. Many people might find the subject matters of the book as well as those detailed in my review overwhelming. I would suggest you steer clear of both if this is the case. Please note that from this point forward I will be writing about matters which contain reflections on child endangerment, forceful disappearance of a minor, crime involving a minor, death of a child, & others. The winners of The Farshore Reading for Pleasure Teacher Awards 2023, highlighting the work schools are doing to encourage a love of reading, have... Aveline Jones is forced to stay with her uptight Aunt in a spooky seaside town in October. Storms, creepy scarecrows and a strange boy who likes eating chips all await. Aveline can't think of anything worse. Until she finds a book, a book of ghost stories, that belonged to a girl. A girl who went missing over 30 years ago. Cue a mystery to be solved...