The Book of Bad Things, Dan Poblocki. Cassidy Bean is spending her third summer with the Tremont family in Whitechapel. She and Joey are fast friends, but this summer, he is sullen and reserved. The previous year, his dog, Lucky, died a horrible death and she is convinced he blames her. Cassidy worries she is not welcome when Rose and Dennis Tremont forget to pick her up at the bus station. Almost as soon as she gets settled in, she sees the ghost of Ursula Chambers, the old grumpy hermit, outside her window. She quickly finds out that she, Joey and Ping, a new neighbor, all see ghosts of dead people, including Lucky. The house of dead Ursula seems to be calling to them, saying, "give it back," and they figure out that the greedy people coming to take things out of her house await a fate, sometimes ending in death. It is up to these three, along with Hal, that must save Whitechapel from itself. Cassidy's "book of bad things," a notebook of great personal value that she keeps to help her deal with her own past demons must be surrendered for the wandering ghosts to cease. And as they enter the haunted house of Ursula, they learn she may not have been the evil, wicked witch, the town came to know. A book sure to keep readers biting their nails and reading short chapter after short chapter to its chilling end.