The Haunted House Project

by Tricia Clasen

Overview

Since her mom died, Andie’s family has crumbled. Instead of working, her dad gambles away insurance money, while her sister, Paige, has put her future on hold in order to pick up extra waitressing shifts. Andie’s afraid of what will happen if people find out just how bad things are. She’s not sure how long she can hide the fact that there’s no food or money in the house...or adults, for that matter.

When her science partner suggests they study paranormal activity, Andie gets an idea. She wants a sign from her mom—anything to tell her it’s going to be okay. Maybe the rest of her family does too. So she starts a project of her own. Pretending to be her mother’s ghost, Andie sprays perfume, changes TV channels, and moves pictures. Haunting her house is Andie’s last hope to bring her family back into the land of the living.

For anyone who loved Counting by 7s, The Haunted House Project is a journey through loss and grief, but ultimately a story of hope and self-reliance. As much as Andie has been changed by her mother’s death, the changes she makes herself are the ones that are most important.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781510707139
Publisher:	Sky Pony
Publication date:	10/11/2016
Sold by:	SIMON & SCHUSTER
Format:	NOOK Book
Pages:	228
Sales rank:	163,357
Lexile:	660L (what's this?)
File size:	680 KB
Age Range:	8 - 12 Years

About the Author

Tricia Clasen is a professor of communication with specialties in public speaking and pop culture and a research focus on critiquing young adult fiction. Always a lover of a good story, she grew up spending her days reading and dreaming of being a writer. This is her debut novel. She and her husband live with their two girls in Janesville, Wisconsin.

Sky Pony Press, with our Good Books, Racehorse and Arcade imprints, is proud to publish a broad range of books for young readers—picture books for small children, chapter books, books for middle grade readers, and novels for young adults. Our list includes bestsellers for children who love to play Minecraft; stories told with LEGO bricks; books that teach lessons about tolerance, patience, and the environment, and much more. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller, we are committed to books on subjects that are sometimes overlooked and to authors whose work might not otherwise find a home.

Editorial Reviews

09/05/2016
Writing in the candid voice of a 13-year-old whose mother recently died in a car accident, debut novelist Clasen offers a heartrending portrait of a family coping with sudden and enormous loss. As Andie’s unemployed father buries his grief in alcohol and gambling, Andie worries about her older sister, who works long shifts as a waitress and seems to have shelved her college aspirations. Realizing that her mother “was the glue, and without her, maybe we’ll never stick together again,” Andie resolves to pull her family back together again by convincing her father and sister (and, to a degree, herself) that her mother’s ghost is haunting their home. Unsurprisingly, her well-intentioned tactics—spraying perfume, playing music, writing a message in dust—are more unsettling than comforting, yet they trigger honest conversation that lets the family begin to heal. Clasen steers clear of melodrama, anchoring the story with authentic characters and emotions. Other affecting threads of the plot include the solace Andie finds in her mother’s journals and her new friendship with a geeky, big-hearted boy. Ages 8–12. Agent: Jen Linnan, Linnan Literary Management. (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly

"Tricia Clasen’s debut novel tackles poignant issues with tact and grace while breaking them down in understandable and relatable ways for young readers. Though Andie creates the ghostly hauntings in the book, real magic exists in how this story lingers long after the last page. You’ll root for and cry with Andie as she plots to reconnect a family splintered by her mother’s sudden death and her father’s growing addiction. As Andie realizes her own strength by accepting the unthinkable, readers’ awareness and compassion for others will flourish, too." —Beth Vrabel, author of A Blind Guide to Stinkville and the Pack of Dorks series

"Tricia Clasen’s debut novel tackles poignant issues with tact and grace while breaking them down in understandable and relatable ways for young readers. Though Andie creates the ghostly hauntings in the book, real magic exists in how this story lingers long after the last page. You’ll root for and cry with Andie as she plots to reconnect a family splintered by her mother’s sudden death and her father’s growing addiction. As Andie realizes her own strength by accepting the unthinkable, readers’ awareness and compassion for others will flourish, too." —Beth Vrabel, author of A Blind Guide to Stinkville and the Pack of Dorks series

From the Publisher

09/01/2016
Gr 4–6—Thirteen-year-old Andie, who has a passion for ghosts, has tragically lost her mother, and neither she nor her family are able to regroup. Her father has developed a gambling addiction, and her older sister is scrambling to keep food on the table as she grieves in her own isolated way. When Andie and her science partner, Isaiah, need an idea for a science project, they decide to study the paranormal. Andie develops an experiment of her own; she leaves reminders of her mother (a spray of perfume, moved photographs, and words written on dusty surfaces), hoping to rouse her family from their sadness. This is an honest portrayal of one girl's grief and her mixed-up ways of trying to cope in a world of pain and silence. Multiple, and sometimes disjointed, story lines are in keeping with the adolescent first-person narration. The time line of a subplot involving the protagonist having to choose between her old group of friends and her budding friendship with Isaiah doesn't quite add up, which may confuse readers. The novel ends with Andie and her family in a better, if not perfect, place after a rapid resolution in the final pages. The hopefulness of the message that things can get better will appeal to tweens. VERDICT Those looking for emotion and drama will find it in these pages. An additional purchase for larger collections.—John Scott, Friends School of Baltimore

School Library Journal

2016-08-02
A family crisis challenges 13-year-old Andie to the utmost. The white girl’s family has been falling apart since her mother died. Her 17-year-old sister, Paige, now works long hours to support the family, while their father spends most of his time away from the house, gambling or drinking. To make things worse, Andie’s friends at school are losing patience with her changed behavior as she tries to deal with the grief and the stress. Things change when she is assigned to do a science project with her nerdy lab partner, Isaiah. Tapping into her fascination with the paranormal, Andie convinces Isaiah to do a haunted-house experiment in which Andie pretends to be her mother’s ghost at home. Andie hopes that the ghostly reminders she leaves out for her father and sister will jolt them out of their sadness and remind them of a happier time. Though she knows this experiment isn’t exactly honest, she will do anything to bring her family back to life. Clasen sensitively depicts narrator Andie’s navigation of her new reality as she attends group-therapy sessions at school, allows herself to get to know her mother through her mother’s journals, and embraces new friends. Nerdy, black Isaiah is a particularly appealing supporting character. A touching story that explores grief and the bravery necessary to come out of it. (Fiction. 8-12)

Kirkus Review

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