THE NIGHT TRAIN

Twelve-year-old Maddie must use her new ghost-seeing abilities to break a curse and save herself this Halloween.

After Nana died, her ability to help ghosts find eternal rest passed to Maddie and her fraternal twin sister, Nat. Maddie just wants to be “normal,” but Nat embraces their supernatural gift. Their different feelings lead to an emotional rift between the girls; Maddie wants to repair their relationship, but her anxiety gets in the way. Then the sisters see a dead girl, her lips sewn shut, in the Victorian signalman’s cottage their parents are renovating for their YouTube channel, “Wrecked to Decked.” She needs their help to right a wrong from a century ago that causes kids to disappear during the town’s reenactment, every 13 years, of the Oct. 31, 1893, Great Hush Train Wreck. There are ominous signs that unless they solve the mystery, Maddie could be next. With help from Nat, new friend Westin, and a trusted teacher, Maddie must overcome her anxiety to save herself and the souls of all the kids whose lives have already been claimed. The central mystery keeps the pages turning in this tale of kids learning to be themselves, one that incorporates many popular paranormal and horror tropes. Maddie’s anxiety is treated with respect, and she shares exercises that help during her panic attacks. The sisters are cued white; Westin is Black.

Part classic ghost tale, part cozy paranormal mystery: an accessible introduction to the genre.