1-2-3-4, I Declare a Thumb War

by Lisi Harrison, Daniel Kraus

Overview

Notes From Your Bookseller

What’s spookier than middle school? The Graveyard Girls! Whisper, Frannie, Sophie, Gemma, and Zuzu spend their days at school and their nights unraveling haunting mysteries. The Baby-Sitter’s Club meets Goosebumps in this fun and creepy new series.

#1 New York Times bestselling authors Lisi Harrison and Daniel Kraus deliver a slightly scary, extremely addictive, contemporary middle-grade book series. This first installment of Graveyard Girls is part mystery book and part friendship story, centered around five young teen girls in for the fright of their lives.
 
Meet Whisper, Frannie, Sophie, Gemma, and Zuzu, five friends who tell eerie tales by night and navigate middle school drama by day. In Misery Falls, Oregon, it is the 100th anniversary of the electrocution of the town’s most infamous killer, Silas Hoke, and the town is abuzz. When a mysterious text message leads the girls to the cemetery—where Silas Hoke is buried!—life can’t get any creepier. Except, yes, it can, thanks to the surprise storyteller who meets them at the cemetery, inspires the first-ever meeting of the Graveyard Girls, and sets the stage for a terrifying tale from Whisper that they’ll never forget.
 
Book one in a five-book series, Graveyard Girls blends popular scary books for kids (think: Goosebumps) with strong teen girl characters into a fresh, genre-blending middle-grade series. For kids ages 9­­–12 in search of girl friendship stories and mystery books, you’ll find horror and heartfelt relationships in 1-2-3-4, I Declare a Thumb War.
 
Hardcover with dust jacket; 256 pages; 5.5 x 8.3 in. Illustrations by Flavia Sorrentino.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781454944546
Publisher:	Union Square Kids
Publication date:	09/06/2022
Series:	Graveyard Girls
Pages:	256
Sales rank:	206,742
Product dimensions:	5.60(w) x 8.30(h) x 1.10(d)
Lexile:	620L (what's this?)
Age Range:	8 - 12 Years

About the Author

Lisi Harrison has written thirty-seven YA and middle-grade novels including the #1 New York Times bestselling series The Clique, which has sold more than eight million copies, and Monster High. In 2021, Harrison launched two new middle-grade books series, Girl Stuff and The Pack. Lisi lives in California, and in addition to her work as an author, she is the co-founder of Thrive, a wellness center that teaches tweens, teens, and parents how to have healthy, drama-free friendships. Visit her at lisiharrison.com or thriveswell.com.

Daniel Kraus is an award-winning, New York Times bestselling horror writer and co-author of both Trollhunters and The Shape of Water with Guillermo del Toro. Kraus has won a Scribe Award and two Odyssey Awards, has been a Library Guild selection, a YALSA Best Fiction for Young Adults recipient, a Bram Stoker finalist, and more. His work has been translated into more than twenty-five languages. Daniel lives in Chicago. Visit him at danielkraus.com.

Editorial Reviews

08/01/2022

An infamous killer targets a quartet of tweens in this ghost story–centered novel by Harrison (the Pack series) and Kraus (the Teddies Saga). A century ago, Misery Falls, Ore., PE teacher Silas Hoke, a former Marine with a wooden leg, was sentenced to the electric chair for murdering a student tormentor; every year since, the grisly legend has it, he returns to claim another girl. Now, the town annually observes Hoke Week to banish the murderer’s spirit—a tradition that’s also a significant tourist draw. But as Misery Falls gears up for the celebrations, meek-looking but outspoken sixth grader Willow “Whisper” Martin is more concerned with the Grim Sleepers—a monthly club she’s formed with her friends, who gather to share frightening yarns. When the club members receive an anonymous text inviting them to meet in the cemetery one school night, the event results in a genuinely frightening telling about the dangers of technology. Quick chapters alternate character perspectives—including Hoke’s menacing first-person voice—propelling the plot while providing insight into each tween’s personal turmoil around bullying, pressure to succeed, and more. Most characters cue as white. Ages 8–12. Agent: Richard Abate, 3 Arts. (Sept.)

Publishers Weekly

This clever, fast-paced story is filled with thrills that will have readers flipping pages into the night. . . . [F]or fans of scary stories, horror movies, and things that go bump in the night.” —Booklist
 
“The humor is strong throughout, and the story is strongest when keeping readers guessing about what’s real—both in the interpersonal conflicts and the seemingly supernatural happenings. . . . A good blend of spooky and silly.” —Kirkus Reviews

“If you have a reader that enjoys a good scare, 1-2-3-4 I Declare a Thumb War is a great title to have on your list . . . . A wonderful start to a series by bestselling authors Lisi Harrison and Daniel Kraus, your child will thank you for the purchase.” —Daily Mom

From the Publisher

2022-06-22
A scary-story–lovers’ club takes on a local haunting.

Misery Falls, Oregon, was the home of notorious killer Silas Hoke, said to return on the anniversary of his death to claim another victim. It’s also the hometown of the Grim Sleepers, a monthly sleepover club of middle school friends who are devoted to telling scary stories. Recently, though, the stories aren’t doing it, especially compared to the girls’ real-life conflicts: Track star Whisper’s newly blended family includes her bully; actor Frannie’s former best friend is now her rival in the school play; overachieving Sophie lives in her even more perfect sister’s shadow; and supernatural true believer (and club leader) Gemma struggles not to mess up her job at her family’s business, the Spirit Sanctuary. A creepy anonymous text message gathers the girls by Silas’ grave one night, where they’re surprised to see who wishes to join them and listen to a story, a cautionary tale about technology addiction in which texting thumbs go rogue. Moralizing calls for sympathy for villains (from school bullies to Silas himself) ring hollow but are fortunately brief. The humor is strong throughout, and the story is strongest when keeping readers guessing about what’s real—both in the interpersonal conflicts and the seemingly supernatural happenings. The cliffhanger plays up this element in order to launch readers into the next book. Most cast members present White; one key character is Japanese American.

A good blend of spooky and silly. (Horror. 8-13)

Kirkus Reviews