Phoebe RiversBesprekingen

The Secrets Within is book seven in the Saranormal series. Sara Collins turned 13 in book six, Giving Up the Ghost. In book one, Ghost Town, when she'd just moved from California to Stellamar, New Jersey, Sara was only able to see, hear, and talk to ghosts. Since then she's been having visions, true dreams, and has to work to block out others' thoughts. Good thing for her that her great-grandmother, Lady Azura, is also a psychic and can help Sara with her powers/encounters with ghosts -- even if Lady Azura's powers are fading. Sara's widowed father, Mike, has come a long way toward accepting Lady Azura and Sara's abilities since book one, but discussing them still makes him uneasy..

Sara's unofficial first boyfriend, Jayden Mendes, has moved back to Atlanta, Georgia. Shy Sara's best friend, outgoing and bubbly Lily Randazzo, is sure Sara will meet a new guy soon. (Lily changes crushes frequently.) As this book opens, Sara is sleeping over at Lily's house, in Cammie (Lily's little sister's) bed. Cammie isn't put out about that because she gets to sleep with her parents. If Mr. & Mrs. Randazzo mind, Ms. Rivers isn't telling us.

Lily has only figured out that Sara can read minds, or could -- Sara says she can't anymore. Lily still doesn't know about the rest of Sara's abilities. Why so shy, Sara? Doesn't Lily think that your psychic great-grandmother is cool?

This book's Stellamar tradition for Sara to learn about is a fundraiser for the local schools called 'Bargain on the Boardwalk.' For some reason, Lady Azura has never donated to the fundraiser.

Another part of the plot is a lovable dog who enters the Randazzos' life. The new power that Sara develops in this book allows her to know that the dog is not abandoned, but it would break Lily's heart to lose Buddy. Once again, Sara has to choose between doing what is right and possibly losing the first best friend this 13-year-old has ever had as a result. (It doesn't help that Sara has learned that Buddy's owner is really boy about her age.)

NOTES:

Chapter 1:

a. It's Mother's Day. Natalie Collins died shortly after Sara was born, so she's never celebrated the holiday.

b. We found out that Lily's mother's first name is Beth in chapter 14 of book 4, Spirits of the Season. Here we learn that Lily's father's name is Sam. Two other things we learn about him is that he's a Bruce Springsteen fan and that he's much messier at making pancakes than Mike Collins is at making waffles.

c. Lily loves holidays, even Groundhog Day and Arbor Day (the day to celebrate and plant trees).

d. The Mother's Day lunch Beth and Lily will be attending at Aunt Angela's will include Lily's Great-Aunt Ro, Aunt Dani's family, 7 cousin Lauren Grace.

e. Lily's brothers, Sammy, Joey, and Jake bring in the filthy small dog they found.

f. Lily wants to have three dogs named Kiwi, Cupid, and Coco (if Sara remembers correctly), when she grows up.

g. Sara experiences her new power for the first time when she touches the dog's collar.

Chapter 2:

a. Lily had a crush on Kyle in book five, Moment of Truth.

b. Sara's aura is now cobalt blue mixed with gold.

c. We find out why Lady Azura donates money instead of any of her things to Bargain on the Boardwalk.

d. Sara has known about most of the ghosts in the house since book one. She learned the name of the mustached man, Mr. Broadhurst, in chapter 7 of book two, Haunted Memories. She learned about Henry (a Randazzo), the boy ghost in her craft room closet, in chapter 7 of book three, Mischief Night.

e. Sara tells her about some of the sentimental items of her dad's that are in the attic -- and why she'd be happy to donate some toys.

Chapter 3:

a. Sara got to wear her mother's dress in book five.

b. Sara has another vision after holding another of her mother's dresses. (The song Sara is hearing is 'I Believe I Can Fly' by R. Kelly. (The scandals about Kelly became more widely known in 2017-1018, well after this book was written.)

Chapter 4:

a. The dog is still with the Randazzos because the animal shelter is full.

b. The school web newspaper is the 'Stellamar Wire'. Sara successfully tried to become a staff photographer for it in book three.

c. Interesting that Griffin Ellery's soccer jersey is red. In chapter 5 of book three, the soccer uniforms were blue and gold.

d. Sara learns something about Miranda when she borrows her pen.

Chapter 5:

a. Sara sees the Mystery Boy in her mind again.

b. Beth Randazzo tells Sara about the spell she and her friend Suzanne tried to get Beth's crush, Kevin Down, to notice her when she was a girl.

c. The dog gets his name back, thanks to Sara.

Chapter 6:

a. A Mrs. Grasing is a client who sees Lady Azura every other Wednesday

b. Lady Azura gives Sara a Herkimer diamond this time (not a real diamond).

c. We learned in chapter 1 of book five, the owner of Scoops isn't really Lily's uncle, just a family friend.

d. Sara has a vision when she tries on a vintage ring and another from a vintage necklace

Chapter 7:

a. Lily's cousin C.J. fixes computers.

b. Miranda's family owns Rich's Hardware.

c. Sara watches a woman's ghost influence a living woman (who has a little son named Simon) to buy a vase.

d. Another woman's ghost begs a favor of Sara.

Chapter 8:

a. Sara finds an iron dog that looks like Buddy.

b. Sara has a nightmare.

Chapter 9:

a. Lady Azura explains psychometry to Sara. Lady Azura was very good at it when she was younger.

b. Sara's late Great-Grandfather Richard's nickname for Lady Azura was 'Zuri".

Chapter 10:

a. Sara has another vision while touching Buddy's collar.

b. Lily's brother Joey has a goldfish.

c. Sara learns a bit about Lady Azura's past exploits from a newspaper article.

Chapter 11: Sara dreams about the same person as in chapter 8.

Chapter 12: Lady Azura's séance is successful this time. The man's name was Erik.

Chapter 14:

a. Lady Azura is teaching Sara about Tarot cards.

b. The town newspaper is the 'Stellamar Sentinel'.

c. Lady Azura keeps a porcelain doll that belonged to her when she was a child in her fortunetelling room.

d. Thomas and Helen Meyer's grandchildren are a 13-year-old named Mason and six-year-old twins named Ben and Rachel.

Sara gets to help solve an old mystery in this one. She also has the chance to someday meet a boy who might take her mind off Jayden. I've ordered book eight for myself because my county's libraries don't have the whole set. I'm looking forward to reading it.

Dog lovers: Rejoice! This series finally has a pet in it and he's a cute little mutt named Buddy.

Giving up the Ghost is book six in the Saranormal series. Poor Sara Collins, In book one, Ghost Town, she could only see, hear, and talk to ghosts. By book three, Mischief Night, she'd developed the power of having visions. In book five, Moment of Truth, she became a telepath (mind reader). Luckily, her telepathy isn't working all the time. Unluckily, it's getting stronger.

Sara and her widowed father, Mike Collins, moved from California to Stellamar, New Jersey, a small town on the Atlantic coast. Although Sara didn't find out until book four, Spirits of the Season, their fortune-telling landlady, Lady Azura, is Sara's maternal great-grandmother. Lady Azura's mother was also psychic, but their powers skipped her daughter and Sara's mother. Mike is trying to deal with his gifted daughter, but it's Lady Azura who can teach Sara what she needs to know. The house is haunted, but Mike doesn't have to see the various ghosts.

Sara still wants to be thought normal, so not even her first best friend, Lily Randazzo, or Jayden Mendes, her cute first boyfriend, know her secret. Sara's other friends among the girls at Stellamar Middle School were already Lily's friends, so it's not as if.she's going to tell them.

We already learned at the end of the last book that the Mendes family is moving back to Atlanta, Georgia. If that's not bad enough, Lady Azura's house is filled with negative energy. She and Sara are having bad dreams. Then things start happening -- stuff getting broken or moved, not to mention the matter of disappearing homework.

Sara is going to become a teen on Saturday. So why is Lily talking about having a going-away party for Jayden on that day?

NOTES:

Chapter 2:

a. Oh, good -- Sara is no longer nauseated or getting that tingling in her left foot if the ghosts are the ones at home.

b. That the yellow Victorian house with burnt orange trim has siding is mentioned for, if I recall correctly, the first time since book one.

Chapter 3: Sara telepathy is picking up some thoughts she doesn't like.

Chapter 4:

a. That fire in the pink bedroom happened in chapter 4 of book five.

b. There's a sitting room opposite Lady Azura's fortune-telling parlor.

c. Lady Azura gives Sara a moldavite crystal.

Chapter 5:

a. Lady Azura's car is a powder- blue convertible from the 1950s. It has fins on the back and it still runs.

b. Vern Randazzo is the only mechanic in Stellamar. Sara thinks he's Lily's great-uncle.

Chapter 6: Sara has a dream about the woman from chapter 1.

Chapter 8: We find out how that mirror got broken.

Chapter 11: Bitter litigation lawyer Nina Oliver's daughter is Dolores and her son is Sebastian. Her husband was Harold.

Chapter 12: Sara is trying to think of Alfred Lord Tennyson.

Chapter 14: Here Dawn Marie, who works at Scoops Ice Cream parlor, is called Lily's sort-of cousin. In chapter 1 of book five, Dawn Marie was called Lily's cousin.

The Saranormal books keep getting better. This one had moments even scarier than the worst in book five. Sara's choice about what to do with her new power was an important one. I really enjoyed the last page. It made such sense!

Moment of Truth is book five in the Saranormal series. Our 12-year-old heroine, Sara Collins, has been able to see and hear ghosts since she was four years old. This has been her closely-guarded secret all her life. The only other persons who know are her widowed father, Mike Collins, and her mother's grandmother, their widowed landlady, Lady Azura. See book four, Spirits of the Season, for why Mike fled with baby Sara to California, and why Lady Azura's kinship was kept secret for the first three books. Sara inherited her powers from Lady Azura and her mother. (Lady Azura's daughter, Diana, and granddaughter, Natalie, weren't psychic at all.) Lady Azura's powers may be fizzling out at her age, but she can still teach Sara.

In book three, Mischief Night, Sara developed another power: having visions. They're usually of the past, but might be the present. Sometimes she even gets the thoughts of the person in her vision. Great -- something else to keep from other people. She doesn't want to be considered a freak at school. At least when she zones out during a vision, no one thinks she's having a mild form of epilepsy.

Lily Randazzo is Sara's best friend. This is the first time in her life she's had one. Sara doesn't even what them to break up. How can she tell Lily that Kyle, the new boy she likes who likes her, is a ghost who can be seen and heard by non-psychics because he doesn't know he's dead? Thinking clearly can't be easy when Sara is short on sleep because the sobbing female ghost in the bedroom next to Sara's has been louder lately.

A subplot is the middle school's prom, called 'Morp'. Lily and Sara's friend Avery doesn't know why dances where the girls ask the boys used to be called Sadie Hawkins dances, but I do. It comes from a 1934-1977 comic strip called 'Lil' Abner'. Lil' Abner's hillbilly home town of Dogpatch, Kentucky had an annual Sadie Hawkins Day race. It was started by early settler Hekzebiah Hawkins when his very homely daughter, Sadie, turned 35 without ever having a boyfriend. All the Dogpatch bachelors had to run on foot. If Sadie ran after them. If she caught one of them, he'd have to marry her. After the first race, it was all the unmarried Dogpatch women chasing after unmarried Dogpatch men. (Back then it was considered a disgrace for a woman to never get married.)

Sara does NOT like the idea of having to ask a boy to the Morp. Will she get up the nerve to ask that cute Jayden to go with her?

NOTES:

Chapter 1:

a. It's late February.

b. The owner of Scoops Ice Cream parlor isn't one of Lily Randazzo's huge extended family, just a family friend. She still calls him 'Uncle Paul'.

c. The Dina the other girls are talking about is an 8th grader, the daughter of Janelle Martino, the co-worker Mike Collins has been seeing. Dina's a mean girl and she wants her divorced parents to get back together, so she doesn't like Mike. See book four for more. See book two, Haunted Memories for why Dina hates Sara.

d. In book three, Jack L. was said to like Avery. I guess he's switched to Lily since October. (He's called Jack L. because there's another Jack on the soccer team. That's Jack R.)

Chapter 2: Lily is soon able to rattle a lot of facts about cute, green-eyed, brown-haired Kyle from Florida.

Chapter 3:

a. We find out why Sara can't block out the sobbing ghost with her headphones.

b. Mike and Janelle have made a decision about dating.

c. The mirror in Lady Azura's fortune-telling room broke.

Chapter 4:

a. Lady Azura teaches Sara a few new things about ghosts.

b. The sobbing ghost in the pink bedroom lost her three-year-old son to diphtheria back in the early 1900s, before there was a vaccine.

c. Sara helped the ghost of Alice, who had died of polio, in book two.

d. Lady Azura gives Sara a crystal or semi-precious gem each book. This time it's tourmaline (semi-precious).

Chapter 5:

a. A blizzard has knocked out the electrical power at more houses than Lady Azura's. Good thing it's back before the next night.

b. Sara's reply to Lily makes her and their friends stare.

Chapter 7: Sara discusses Klye with Lady Azura.

Chapter 8: Kyle's last name is Parker. Sara reads about his family's death. His parents were John and Cecily Parker. Cecily has a sister in Ocean City, Carla Daly, who has a husband named Edward and two sons named Thomas and Charles. Could that be the cute Tom Daly who is going to the Morp with Dina?

Chapter 9:

a. Something happens with Lily that freaks Sara out.

b. Sara's dad helps her find a dress for the dance.

Chapter 10: The little boy who died of diphtheria was named Angus.

This is another good entry in really enjoyable tween series. I like Sara, her friends, and Lady Azura. The Morp didn't work out as planned, but I think it ended well enough.

Spirits of the Season is book four in the Saranormal series. Sara Collins, a 7th grader who can see, hear, and talk to ghosts, moved into a haunted house during that summer. She lives with her widowed father, Mike, and their landlady, Lady Azura. Their landlady has a psychic shop on the first floor (ground floor if you're British). Sara and her dad live on second and third floors. Lady Azura is quite old and her powers are fading. She can still summon spirits, but can't see or hear them. Still, she's able to advise Sara about dealing with her powers.

As with book one, Ghost Town, this book begins with a prologue set just after the last Christmas was over. The prologue gives us insight into Mike, who dearly loved his wife Natalie. Natalie died not long after Sara was born and his daughter looks just like her mother. Just looking at Sara makes the pain of losing Natalie raw again. Mike gets around to reading a letter from Lady Azura, the letter that eventually led him to move. It's a very interesting letter. What a shame that Mike made the not-uncommon error of considering a prophecy a curse. I rather wish he hadn't made Lady Azura promise to keep a secret.

This book takes place during December. This is California born and reared Sara's first Christmas in Stellamar, New Jersey, a small town on the Atlantic coast. She's made friends at Stellamar Middle School and even has a best friend for the first time in her life in her neighbor Lily Randazzo. There's also a very cute classmate named Jayden Mendes. Sara likes him and he likes Sara.

Sara is with Lily, who is Christmas shopping at Lily's Aunt Dolores' store, the Salty Crab. Lily has a LOT of relatives. She's claiming there will be a cozy Christmas Eve dinner for 60 at her house. (Luckily, the Randazzos also live in a big Victorian house.) Sara's making her gifts. Lily wants to know if Sara is making anything for Janelle Martino, the co-worker her dad is dating. Sara isn't jealous. Her objection to Ms. Martino is that she's the mother of Dina Martino, an 8th grader who hates Sara. Why? Dina and Sara both ran for Harvest Queen in book two, Haunted Memories, and Sara won. Sara was fine with Dina and her older sister, Chloe, ignoring her when both families went out to dinner together last weekend. Here we learn that Dina trips Miranda Rich in the dance class they and Lily attend.

Our main ghost this book is a one-armed World War II-era soldier. So far Sara has dealt with two ghosts who needed her help, one who tells her bad jokes, one who was hostile to her, and one that was quite mischievous. Which category will this ghost fall into? As Lady Azura explains to Sara, ghosts are checking up on loved ones during the twelve days of Christmas. That's why Sara is seeing more of them than she usually does.

The soldier unwittingly manages to give mean girl Dina Martino blackmail material against Sara. What'll happen if Sara can't do what Dina wants?

NOTES:

Chapter 1:

a. Sara never gave her paternal Aunt Charlotte, the organic vegan, a Christmas gift?

b. Do enjoy Lily reporting what her cousins Dawn Marie and Jessie say about boys and gifts. If her cousin Tori is always buying gifts for boys, perhaps she can advise Sara about what to give Jayden.

Chapter 2:

a. Lady Azura started helping Sara deal with her powers in book three, Mischief Night, but it was a bit before Halloween.

b. This time Lady Azura's advice involves Glinda the Good Witch (from the 1939 'Wizard of Oz' movie, not the book).

c. Lady Azura's late husband was an ornithology professor named Richard. Their daughter, Diana, is also dead.

Chapter 3: Mike has a co-worker named Ben Lewis, who is getting married in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania..

Chapter 4:

a. Sara became staff photographer for their school web newspaper, the "Stellamar Wire,' in book three.

b. Their school crossing guard is an old man named Mr. Rathgeb.

c. Jayden's family is returning to Atlanta, Georgia for Christmas.

Chapter 5: This book's crystal/semi-precious gem gift from Lady Azura to Sara is an opal.

Chapter 6:

a. Sara is at the mall with Janelle, Chloe, and Dina Martino as a favor to her father.

b. Sara meets a ghost who has found a way to continue giving his wife his usual Christmas gift.

Chapter 7: Sara has a vision.

Chapter 8: Lady Azura's first and true love was a handsome young man named Franklin who died before their wedding.

Chapter 9: Sara and Jayden were in the photo booth on the boardwalk in chapter one of book three.

Chapter 11:

a. Sara also has an Uncle Dexter (Mike's brother? Charlotte's husband?) and her dad's dad, Gramp Steve.

b. Sara has another vision.

Chapter 12:

a. Lady Azura is a fan of singer/actor Frank Sinatra. (If you see an old cartoon with some skinny cartoon animal or bird singing while female animals or birds cry out 'Frankie!' and faint, that's Frank Sinatra the cartoon is spoofing. An example on YouTube is 'Rhapsody in Pew'. Another one is 'Swooning the Swooners'.)

b. Lady Azura has a lot of bird Christmas ornaments because of Richard. She also has a Christkindl ornament Franklin sent her from Germany.

Chapter 14:

a. Janelle isn't a widow. She recently divorced Dina and Chloe's father.

b. Lily's mom, Beth Randazzo, is the granddaughter of Lady Azura's best friend, Lilian.

c. Natalie, Sara's mother, grew up in Neptune Beach, about 25 miles from Stellamar.

d. Lady Azura's mother could see ghosts, too.

Some secrets are revealed in this book. (It's about time!) Sara and Dina have to put up with each other, but Dina has a plan. Jayden and Sara have a couple of scenes together. I really liked the special Christmas present Sara gets at the end.

Mischief Night is the third book in the Saranormal series about 12-year-old Sara Collins. Sara longs to be just a normal girl, but she can see, hear, and talk to ghosts. Last night was Stellamar, New Jersey's annual October Boardwalk Bash, a farewell to the summer tourist season. It's been two weeks since Sara was crowned the Harvest Queen in book two, Haunted Memories.

Mischief Night is what the folks in Stellamar call the night before Halloween. It's the night for the kind of pranks often done on Halloween itself. (Sara doesn't mention one of the tricks my dad and his friends pulled on Halloween when he was a boy. Good!)

A subplot is Sara's attempt to become a photographer for Stellamar Middle School's web newspaper, the Stellamar Wire. She wants to be the sports photographer because that will give her an excuse to watch that cute Jayden Mendes while he plays for the soccer team. Sara has been photographing objects, not persons, and she needs good samples of people photos to have a chance of getting the position.

Another subplot is about Sara and her Dad's landlady, Lady Azura. Lady Azura's psychic business is slower than it usually is after the tourists leave. Sara's best friend, enthusiastic and outgoing Lily Randazzo, comes up with an idea to help. The girls go up to Sara's craft room on the third floor to carry out Lily's plan. Then the closet opens by itself. A ghost starts pulling poltergeist-like activity, so the girls flee.

Sara has known that Lady Azura's house is haunted since the day her dad drove them there, but she doesn't want Lily to know. She's afraid that Lily will tell her friend Miranda (who doesn't like Sara), Miranda will then tell their whole school, and Sara will be labeled abnormal. Lady Azura plays along for Sara's sake.

NOTES:

Chapter 1: Mr. Chopra, who runs the Boardwalk arcade, is not one of the many relatives of Lily Randazzo who run things in Stellamar.

Chapter 2:

a. The silver braided ring Sara wears belonged to her mother. She now wears the red crystal Lady Azura gave her in book one, Ghost Town, and the aquamarine she was given in book two. (Could it be because Sara accidentally left the aquamarine in her room back then?)

b. Lily and Sara's friend, Avery, has an admirer in Jack L.

c. Lady Azura's Victorian house has peeling yellow paint (on the siding?) That explains the burnt orange trim mentioned in book one.

d. Lily's dad runs strip malls. Her Aunt Dolores has a store called the Salty Crab on Beach Drive. (I smiled at Lily's opinion of the dresses sold there.)

Chapter 3: Weird things happen after a closet door opens by itself in Sara's craft room.

Chapter 4:

a. Sara seems to be forgetting her first interaction with ghosts in the prologue of book one. They didn't just let her alone. (To be left alone means there is no one else where you are. To be let alone means no one is pestering, annoying, vexing, irritating, aggravating, etc. you.)

b. I don't know why Lady Azura wants fennel seeds, but two uses I know for them are covering them with sugar to make comfits and eating several of them plain to get rid of intestinal gas pains.

Chapter 5:

a. The soccer uniforms at Sara's school are blue and gold.

b. Sara has a vision.

Chapter 6: Mike Collins, Sara's dad, has a date.

Chapter 7: Sara learns about Henry, the ghost in her craft room.

Chapter 8: This year Lady Azura is going to allow children to attend her Blue Moon party on October 30th, Mischief Night.

Chapter 9: Sara has another vision.

Chapter 11: Mike Collins' new lady friend is a co-worker named Janelle. (Mike & Sara called themselves the two Musketeers when she was little.)

Chapter 12: Sara sees the rest of the interrupted vision from chapter 9.

Sara is still having problems with Marco, the ghost of her crush Jayden's big brother. Another of the ghosts in Lady Azura's house has become active again. Sara seems to be developing another power. Lady Azura can advise her, but Sara has to do her bit to keep her new power from harming her.
At least Sara is becoming friends with most of Lily's friends. For the first time, she's not the outsider at school. Sara is so afraid that Lady Azura's Blue Moon party will ruin that. It's bad enough that one of the consequences of her win in book two has made her an enemy. Who needs to have a school mean girl against her?

I really enjoyed this book and could hardly wait to read the next one.

After I read book two in this series, Haunted Memories, I checked out every Saranormal book my local library had, as well as those in other county libraries. Ghost Town is the first. Sara Collins wants to be a normal 12-year-old, but she's not. The prologue lets us know why she's not. She's known this for eight years. Poor girl. Now her widowed father, Mike, is uprooting her from California to go live in New Jersey. How depressing. Stellamar might be on the Atlantic coast, but that's not raising Sara's spirits. The house they'll be living in is in need of repairs, but Sara realizes the worst thing about it by the end of chapter one.

Sara and her dad are being allowed to live on the second and third floors of the house in exchange for Mike doing repairs when he's not at work. Their landlady is a very unusual old woman. Lady Azura is a medium, psychic, and mystic. Her sign claims she's a healer, too. She runs her little business from the first floor of the house (ground floor if you're British). Sara wonders if she's the real thing, but her dad says she's a nice lady with 'kooky hobby'. Given the title and what we've already learned about Sara by the time they meet, it's almost a sure bet that Lady Azura isn't entirely a fake. Could she be like Charlaine Harris' Manfred Bernardo, who really is psychic sometimes, but often just uses psychology to help his customers?

After choosing the only bedroom on the second floor that she could possibly sleep in, Sara listens to a conversation between her dad and Lady Azura that will mean more in later books. By chapter three Sara learns that she's going to be running errands for their landlady -- great excuse for getting Sara out and meeting people.

NOTES:

Chapter 1:

a.. The other kids on that playground eight years ago were Kendra, Emmy, Noah, Will, and Jack. Miss Susie was either their teacher or the person watching out for the kids.

b. Lady Azura's Victorian house has siding and faded burnt orange trim. There's more to the description of its outside.

Chapter 2:

a. Mike calls Sara 'kiddo,'so when she was seven she started calling him 'Daddy-o' and sometimes she still does. (Back in the 1950s and 1960s 'Daddy-o' was a cool thing to call a man. Jazz musicians started it.)

b. Mike's ex-girlfriend in California was Alexis.

c. Sara's mom died not long after she gave birth.

Chapter 3:

a. The house is on Seagate Drive, at the end of which is Ocean Grove Road. Elmer's Convenience Store is on the corner. The town's main street is Beach Drive.It runs parallel to the Beach. The Stellamar Boardwalk is off the right.

b. Sara takes photos to make collages on her computer. Her late mother was a photographer. Sara's favorite of her mom's photos is one of a porcelain angel.

c. Sara learns the history of the boardwalk's haunted house attraction.

Chapter 4:

a. Sara meets her neighbor, Lily Randazzo, another 12-year-old. Lily has three brothers and her sister, Cammie, is four years old.

b. Lady Azura's room where she conducts here psychic business is described. So is her bedroom.

Mention: Oz

Chapter 5: Something happens to Sara that has never happened to her before.

Chapter 6: The Randazzos and the Morellis (Lily's maternal relatives) run most of Stellamar and nearby towns. They've been there over 100 years. Lily's Great-Aunt Ro works at visitor's information. Her Uncle Lenny has Lenny's Pizzeria.

Chapter 7: Sara has an Aunt Charlotte on her father's side.

Chapter 8:

a. Lady Azura teaches Sara about eight types of crystal and semi-precious gemstones.

b. An old man's ghost warns Sara about looming disaster.

Chapter 9:

a. Sara's craft room in the larger third floor room is described.

b. Sara has a nightmare about Lily's brother, Joey,

Chapter 10: Sara has had nightmares since she was four years old.

Chapter 11: Lady Azura tells Sara why she called sea glass 'mermaid's tears' when she was young.

Mention: Poseidon

Chapter 12: Sara finds out the old man ghost's name when she meets Great-Aunt Ro.

Chapter 13: Sara meets Lily's friend, Miranda.

Chapter 13: Sara learns about the properties of two more stones. Lady Azura gives her one.

I like Sara and the other characters Sara's worry that her ability will keep her from fitting in is real, but she gets to make a friend and have an adventure. It's a good start to a series I've been enjoying.

Yesterday I read the first chapter of Haunted Memories, the second book in Phoebe Rivers Saranormal tween supernatural series. This morning I sat down to read a chapter or two before breakfast. Ha! I finished it instead.

Sara Collins and her father, Mike, moved to Stellamar, New Jersey during the summer. Now Sara is attending Stellamar Middle School. It's the second day and it seems no one is noticing her. Good thing she's already friends with the outgoring Lily Randazzo. Thanks to Lily, Sara has a place to sit with other girls at lunch.

Luckily, Lily is very happy to meet the Collins' landlady, psychic Lady Azura, so that's one worry off Sara's mind. Our heroine gains a new worry when she opens her locker and something decidedly not normal happens.

A big subplot is Stellamar's annual Harvest Festival and who is going to be the Harvest Queen. Sara, a pretty, blue-eyed blonde, seems a natural candidate to some of her classmates, but Sara's not interested. Too bad for Sara that a ghost named Alice is determined that Sara will be the queen.

Another subplot is Sara meeting a cute boy named Jayden Mendes who likes her back. Problem? Jayden's guardian ghost hates Sara.

A bit of town history we learn about is a terrible polio epidemic in 1952. According to History.com, there were 58,000 new cases in the USA that year. Alice was one of the 3,000 polio victims who died. Jonas Salk, inventor of the first successful polio vaccine, announced it in 1953. Trials to make sure it was safe and worked began in 1954, the year I was born. The vaccine started to be given a year later and new cases of polio dropped to just 6,000 a year by 1957. The vaccine you could take by mouth came out in 1962, in time for me to get to swallow my sugar cube of polio prevention at school.

What made polio so frightening is that even if the victim lived, s/he was usually crippled for life. Some lost the use of one or both legs. The worst were those who could no longer breathe on their own and had to be kept alive inside machines called iron lungs. (A 1938 Porky Pig and Daffy Duck cartoon, 'The Daffy Doc,' features an iron lung. Look for it.)

Can Sara help poor Alice find rest? Can she get Jayden's guardian ghost to stop trying to keep them apart?

NOTES:

Chapter 1:

a. Sara met Miranda in chapter 13 of book one, Ghost Town.

b. Sara has her first encounter with a pun-loving gym teacher.

Chapter 2:

a. This is Lily's first visit to Lady Azura's house

b. Lady Azura was the Harvest Queen at the annual Harvest Festival when she was Sara & Lily's age.

c. Lily wants to contact her Gran Deb for the secret ingredient to her chocolate cake recipe.

Chapter 3:

a. Sara's locker is #303. Something happens when she opens it.

b. Sara had a vision of Jayden Mendes at the end of book one.

c. Sara meets Jayden's guardian ghost who hates her.

d. Lily has a cousin Kim who works at the store where Tamara bought her top.

Chapter 5: Sara is surprised by the list of girls running for Harvest Queen.

Chapter 7: Lady Azura tells Sara the name of one of the ghosts in her house.

Chapter 9: Sara's Aunt Charlotte has a beagle named Stewy. Avery reminds Sara of Stewy.

Chapter 10: Sara meets Alice.

Chapter 11:

a. Lady Azura's daughter, Diana, was born during the Harvest Festival.

b. Lady Azura tells Sara about Alice Emerson before she gives Sara an aquamarine for courage.

Chapter 12: What the ghost of Great-Ann Fran said in chapter 2 was true. Mrs. Randazzo has an Aunt Lorena in San Antonio.

Chapter 13: Sara talks about the history of Stellamar.

Chapter 14: We learn more about Alice Emerson.

Chapter 15: Sara's mother's name was Natalie. Spirit Boy's name is Marco. Alice lived from Aug. 6, 1939 - September 23, 1952.

Not only did I find Haunted Memories so compelling that I read from chapter 2 to the end in one sitting, I made sure to check out all of the other books in the series that my county's libraries have. Sara is a likeable girl. I'm glad she found someone with whom she could share her greatest secret. I recommend this book to readers who enjoy good stories about the supernatural.

I'm generally not a fan of ghost stories, but this one was alright. I'd go for the second book.

Sara has always seen ghosts and is not happy when her father moves her across the country to a house that has more ghosts than living occupants. In her new town, Sara makes friends with the effervescent Lily - who knows just about everyone in town - and David, who shares Sara’s passion for photography and works at the haunted house near the beach.

While getting use to her new home and town, Sara learns that, not only could she see them but, the ghosts can communicate with her.

While it’s not entirely frightening, Saranormal will be a treat to any young reader who loves a good mystery with a little scare.

The story itself was a very quick read, it was enjoyable and the mystery wasn’t super transparent so it was enough to keep a young reader guessing until the end.

This is the first book I've read in this series. I was a little concerned that there is so much importance attached to paranormal activities. Once I got beyond my unease I quite enjoyed the book. It'll certainly appeal to tweens regardless of whether they are into Paranormal events or not. The story line is strong and the ending comforting.

In this final book in the Saranormal series, Sara has found her mother's diary from when she was a girl. As she learns about the mother she never knew, she is also coping with crushes and trying to help her bff and the ghosts from a long ago tragedy.

I really enjoyed this series and I am going to miss it. I think this is a great series for tweens and even some younger girls, not to mention aging librarians, who like a good story with ghosts on the side.

Sara and her family prepare for the worst hurricane to hit NJ in many years. They weather the storm pretty well and help the neighbors recover as well. At the same time Sara has had an encounter with one of their household ghosts that has her trying to find a message from her u mother.

This series is fun and it is good for children and tweens. There is enough teen angst and romance to keep them interested. The ghosts are not scary but usually people in need of help. Sara, her family and friends are all good folks who enjoy helping others. They are all good role models. Looking forward to the next book in the series,

Sara and her BFF Lily are enjoying a free vacation with Lily's aunt. The hotel has recently reopened and has a family theme that is supposed to be particularly appealing to teens. Aunt Angela is a reporter for a travel magazine and needed some teens to test out the attractions. But the hotel is an old mansion that comes with some ghostly baggage.

In this book Sara has to deal with her friend feeling betrayed by her. It is a childish sort of thing but it is the type of thing tweens deal with all the time. She also has to deal with her own jealousy when Lily starts making friends with another girl who is there on vacation. Add to that a ghost that can start fires, and Sara has her dance card pretty full. I love this series. Sara and her friends seem very real. Parents and other adults are given respect. All in all great books for kids.

In this book, Sara continues to crush on Mason, a boy she recently met. But why does Mason always seem to be avoiding her? And she has to deal with the snooping ghostly visitors, Eleanor and Dwight, who are looking for something, but they don't know what.

I enjoy these books. Sara is a responsible and smart person. She has good and loyal friends who seem to ignore her sometimes bizarre behavior. Her family is important to her and they are very supportive. I think these are very good books for tweens. They are not scary at all.

Now that Sara has turned 13, her powers are changing. Suddenly when she touches things, she has visions of the past. Can this new power help solve an old robbery case and help find the owners of a lost dog?

You got to love Sara. Her life sucks on so many levels. Yet, she manages to go to school and attempt to be a normal girl. I still love the town she lives in and her family and friends rock. The addition of a dog did not hurt either. In this book Sara has to decide between siding with her best friend or doing the right thing. Good stuff for kids to consider.The resolution to some of the problems in these books sometimes are pretty pat. But hey, they are kid's books. My problems should be solved so easily.

This time around, Sara has to fend off a ghost that is creating very bad energy in her home. This is personal. And her almost boyfriend Jayden is preparing to move back to Atlanta (sniff). Oh, and everyone seems to have forgotten her birthday (bummer). Oh and that pesky mind reading thing is really starting to suck.

I just love Sara. She is so sweet. She is still very innocent, as are her friends, as they fumble their way into adulthood. The adult characters are handled well also. I wish I lived in their town. I just love the ocean.

In this book Sara and her friends meet an unusual guy. He is nice and good looking, and dead. But everyone can still see him and Sara's BFF, Lily has a major crush on him. Sara knows that once he relizes he is dead there could be some bad mojo and tries to keep Lily away from him. Will she have to lose her friend to save her?

This is such a fun series. Sara is growing into a pretty responsible kid. I like her family and friends. Tweens could have a worse role model. Looking forward to more adventures with Sara.

Sara is happy in her new home in Stellamar, NJ. She has friends and a maybe boyfriend. She is happy that her father has found a girlfriend even though said girlfriend is the mother of the resident mean girl at school. And she has found kinship with Lady Azure, the landlord who is a psychic and knows Sara's secret. Sara can see and talk to ghosts. As Christmas approaches, Sara learns that there is a window of time when the spirits of those who have moved on can come back to visit their loved ones. Will Sara get a ghostly visit from the mother she never knew?

I love Sara and her friends. I love the funky seashore town she lives in. And I really love ghost stories and these are very good. There is the beginning of a sweet romance. These are great for tweens.

Sara continues to try to balance her home and school lives with her "gift" for seeing and communicating with the dead. Keeping that kind of secret is hard when a ghost really has it out for you, like her not-boyfriends deceased brother, Marco and the little boy who haunts her craft room. But Sara is growing up and accepting her gift and trying to learn the rules for working with spirits. With Halloween approaching, wish her luck.

This series is fun. Sara and her friends are pretty cool and even the mean girls are not that mean. At least not yet. Still very appropriate for teens there are lessons to be learned about friendship and other relationships. Looking forward to the next in the series.

School has started and Sara is desperate to appear normal and make friends despite being pestered by a group of spirits. Like the first book this one is fun. We see Sara growing into her responsibilities and still being able to be part of a group of friends. This is a great series for tweens. There is even the start of a middle school romance. Already checked out the next in the series.

Sara has been moved all the way across the country with her father. Now instead of California she is living on the New Jersey shore. Moving is bad enough but Sara has another problem. Ever since she was 4 years old she has seen spirits. Now, on the boardwalk of all places, not only is she seeing a spirit, he is talking to her.

This was a lot of fun. Sara is an interesting character who is somewhat withdrawn because of her special talent. In the book she meets people who want to be her friend and she is trying to balance meeting people with the pesky ghosts. I really like the resort town setting and the characters in the story. This is a good book for tweens and maybe even a bit younger. I think I have found my new lunch book series.

A simple story about a girl with some paranormal talents coming into her powers. Seems like a prequel to something I'm assuming is coming later. And really, could they have made the type any bigger? Good grief.