Searles, J. (2013). Help for the haunted. New York: HarperLuxe.

This book is about the Mason family.  The parents who are deeply religious and believe in helping those they think are “possessed by demons.”  Early in the story the parents are lured to a local church where they are killed.  The story moves back and forth from past to present telling tales of the family before and after the parent’s death.  Most of the story is told by Sylvie.  She is the youngest daughter, who is following in her parents belief system.  Her older sister Rose is the rebel in the house.   Initially a  preacher is charged in the murder but he denies killing anyone even though he is in jail.  At some point after the girls are orphaned, more information comes out that a reporter ma have fallen in love with their mother.  The girl’s uncle Howie says he will help but he is a drunk and lives like a pig.  In the end we find out that all of this mystery is simply overblown.  While Rose first appears to be a psychotic, we finally find out that she is secretly gay and the reason she is so mean to Sylvie is because of her Father.

With a reading lexile of about 950 this mystery may be okay for an older teenaged audience.  I felt that is bordered on offensive for some with strong religious beliefs.  The idea of ghost hunting makes this story almost unbelievable to me.  I wasn’t exactly thrilled with the ending, but it would definitely be interesting to the target audience of 9 -12^th grade.  I wonder though if the older group might find it hard to relate to Sylvie and really dislike Rose.  I do think that more kids than I like to think would relate to the dysfunction of this family.