Such a sweet middle grade story. Ghosts and hauntings but not too scary, What does it mean to be a friend? To be part of a family? There's also a bit of a mystery to be solved. I thought there might be a sequel, but I don't see one :(

This was just the sort of adorable & uplifting middle grade novel to help with my recent reading slump. When a new Hauntery location opens down the street from the Ivan, 400 years of family-run haunted hotel service are jeopardized. And twelve-year-old Willow isn't about to let that happen. A new ghost friend with aspirations of playing the scary role she's always wanted might be just the thing to put them back on top--as long as no one finds out she's also working at the new Hauntery location with her family. Adorable and a tad spooky, just the way I like it.

An absolutely charming ghost story - if you can believe that - about family and haunted hotels! Super fun read

“The Second-Best Haunted Hotel on Mercer Street” is a charming middle-grade novel of friendship and family mixed with spooky ghosts and haunted hotels.

I enjoyed the way the author executed the story. She includes a lot in the story, like grief, loss, friendship, humor, and even suspenseful moments. The author also makes the tale so creative, like coming up with GhouledIn, a professional networking site exclusively for ghosts. I also loved the movie references she includes, like the twins from the Shining. Moreover, the author created the setting in an atmospheric yet family-friendly manner. If this hotel were actual, it would be one of the very few Haunted Hotels I would not mind checking out.

The main characters are well written. Willow and Evie are lovely, and I enjoyed how the author progressed the story alternating between their perspectives. It was interesting to see how they meet and form a friendship. They have contrasting personalities, and you would think they have nothing in common, but they fit nicely. Moreover, I liked how the author handled Willow’s relationship with her father over the loss of her mother. The author also adds exciting moments, particularly around Mr. Renard’s character. I also found Pierce to be a memorable character.

Similarly, the illustrations by Jane Pica adds beautifully to the book, and I loved the way she drew the expressions on the characters. The pictures give the story a whimsical feel and would appeal to the reader.

Overall, “The Second-Best Haunted Hotel on Mercer Street” is the perfect middle-grade book to pick up for Halloween or if you are in the mood for fun haunted house (or, in this case, Haunted Hotel) story.

Really enjoyed this spooky read for YA audiences, which would be especially great for Halloween lovers in that time of year!

This was definitely a quick and easy summer read. The Second-Best Haunted Hotel on Mercer Street is about a girl who is trying to save her family's haunted hotel from a corporate haunted hotel that opens down the street. She meets one of the ghosts who works for the corporate hotel, and together, they work on saving her hotel.

This was a cute middle grade novel about family, friendships, and living life to the fullest. I think fans of Nancy Drew would love this book!

The Second-Best Haunted Hotel on Mercer Street is a fun book that isn't afraid to make its characters fight hard for their goals.

At the crux of the story is a competition between two haunted hotels to prove which is better and which is going out of business. Imagine Borders still existed and a huge one just moved in next to your local independent bookstore. Except you can stay overnight in the bookstore and it's full of ghosts. (I kind of want this in my life right now.)

The story is told from two points of view. First is Willow, a twelve-year-old trying to maintain the historic, independent haunted establishment, Hotel Ivan. Willow's dad is a widower struggling with depression who doesn't really notice day-to-day events, leaving Willow to run things solo. Willow's mother is a ghost as well but one who floats around aimlessly, not seeming to understand where or even who she is. While the emotional toll on Willow is heavy, she's often so busy pushing forward with the needs of the hotel that she doesn't stop to process what all this grief and stress is doing to her. For all the lightheartedness of the book, it certainly has its heavier and more serious moments.

The second POV character is Evie, a ghost girl working at a new, upscale, corporate-run hotel called The Hauntery. Corporate has highly specific guidelines for its "non-corporal entities," and Evie is assigned the role of a creepy little girl, stuck forever wearing poofy dresses and chanting "come play with us" alongside another identically dressed ghost. (Evie later comments that she doesn't hate dresses in general, just being forced to wear specific ones at specific times. It was a very minor piece of dialogue, but I really appreciated the author taking a swing at the myth that girls can either be strong and independent or like dresses and bows but somehow not both.) Evie dreams of playing the role of a Terrifying Phantasm, a job reserved for the scariest ghosts in the business, and suffice it to say, no one believes she qualifies.

For the first half of the book, both Evie and Willow are struggling to stay afloat in their present circumstances but not really making any progress forward. The misfortunes that pile up on both of them largely have a classic middle-grade humorous bend. (Let's face it, a little ghost girl getting a lecture about cuteness protocols to achieve the proper level of creepiness is pretty amusing.) I wish the girls would have had some opportunity to improve things for themselves earlier in the book, but once they connect, the plot really picks up, and the moral debate of Evie trying to decide what (or who) is most important to her became a key point driving the plot. Middle grade fiction desperately needs more good characters who still make poor decisions, and Evie and Willow both struggle in this area at some point in the story. It was refreshing and made the girls easy to relate to, especially when their hearts were in the right places, but fear of rejection or failure steered them off-course.

Overall, the book has a catchy premise, superb illustrations that bring the characters to life, and a heartfelt ending that made it well worth the read.

This was such a fun, easy read! There was plenty of humor coupled with some deeper issues of family business, depression, and LGBTQ topics. My favorite character was definitely Leonata, the opera singing drag queen ghost! In a world where ghosts are part of everyday life, greedy corporations are shown to be the real threat. Middle grade readers will enjoy the action and the slight scares involved as well as the humor and fun. More mature readers will also pick up on the deeper levels. I recommend this across the board!

I loved the idea of a haunted hotel with happy ghosts and it being a family owned operation. The rival hotel being a money maker with significantly less sentiment. Two young girls and the Hotel Ivan's ghosts fight to keep their beloved haunted hotel. I definitely felt Nancy Drew vibes from this book. This will be a cute fall read for middle grade kids who love anything to do with ghosts!

This was such a cute story! For anyone who doesn't know, I am a sucker for ghosts in stories, and so when I read this description, I knew it was something I wanted to read.

The Second-Best Haunted Hotel on Mercer Street is about a girl who is trying to save her family's haunted hotel from a corporate haunted hotel that opens down the street. She meets one of the ghosts who works for the corporate hotel, and together, they work on saving her hotel.

I really liked that this was a story about family and staying true to one's self. It was a very uplifting sort of read, and I really felt for both Willow and Evie and the things they were trying to deal with. There was a good mix of darker and lighter themes throughout the book, and I think the author did a good job depicting these things. Overall, I think this was a really fun read and it's a book that I would recommend.

Middle grade, haunted hotel, ghosts who carry on with their lives, friendship, family, and learning to have conviction--yes, please! Oakes's book grabs the reader on the front page and doesn't let go as we get to know all the residents, living and dead, and the lives they lead. A bit reminiscent of Disney's Tower of Terror, this book has it all.

Thank you NetGalley and ABRAMS Kids for the opportunity to read an advance reading copy.

This book was really cute and inventive, but it’s tone was a little sadder than I expected. My favorite kid books are light and fun. I know that there are a lot of scary issues out there in the world like the death of a parent or absent parents, and addressing them through literature is helpful to those who have faced it. But I believe in letting kids be kids without weighing them down with life’s problems. This book was a little heavy at times. However, there was enough levity in all the wacky ghost friends to lighten the mood, and I think many of my more mature students would enjoy this. Thanks for the advance copy!

The Second-Best Haunted Hotel on Mercer Street is a cute middle grade novel about family, friendships, and living life to the fullest. The chapters alternate from the perspectives of the two main characters Willow and Evie. I would definitely recommend reading this book, you won't be disappointed.

I received an electronic ARC from ABRAMS Kids through NetGalley.
This book reads on two levels. The easiest is a charming light ghost story with plenty of humor and mishaps. The deeper level deals with grief and depression and having to cope with adult issues as a child. Putnam Oakes creates realistic characters - both living and dead. Willow's family has run the Haunted Hotel for over 400 years. She has taken over running it as her mom passed away unexpectedly and her dad is too deep in his depression to do it. This sixth grader copes as best she can but learns a valuable lesson on relying on others. The new competition, The Hauntery, brings the second lead into the book. Evie and her family work for this corporation. She's trapped in the little girl ghost role but wants more. To do that, she also takes a job at Willow's hotel and balances her two lives as best she can. In the end, her actions save the hotel and expose the corruption in the Hauntery's upper management levels.
Middle grade readers will enjoy the action and the slight scares involved as well as the humor and fun. More mature readers will also pick up on the deeper levels.

*Link goes live August 18*

For four hundred years the Hotel Ivan has been ranked the Best Haunted Hotel on Mercer Street. Unfortunately, a new hotel moves in, the Hauntery, a nation-wide chain of haunted hotels…and each one consistently receives 5-star ratings. How long can a tiny, family-run operation last against a corporate giant?

As if hotel woes weren’t enough for Willow to worry about, she’s left to pick up the pieces after her mom’s sudden death six months ago. Her father fell into a deep depression, leaving Willow to run the hotel nearly on her own. Bills have been going unpaid, deliveries weren’t being made, and – worst of all – some of the staff have begun fading, eventually they’ll leave this world for the next.

Evie’s family have recently been hired at the Hauntery. Much to Evie’s chagrin, she and her cousin are tasked to be the Spooky Little Girls, decked out in pigtails and frilly dresses, beckoning patrons to come play. What Evie would much rather do is be a frightening Phantasm – and she suddenly gets her shot after a chance encounter with Willow leads to a job. What Willow doesn’t know, however, is that Evie also works for the competition…and Evie is in no rush to confess.

The Second-Best Haunted Hotel on Mercer Street was an absolute delight from the very first page. Willow’s world is one where ghosts are not only a part of everyday life, they’re big business. The ghosts on the Hotel Ivan’s staff have been there decades – some have been around for centuries, unlike the Hauntery who runs their chain with laser precision. They have handbooks and uniforms, roles each character needs to play, and going off-script results in a swift termination. They’re the corporate bigwigs gunning for the small mom-and-pop inn, but the Hotel Ivan isn’t going down without a fight.

On the surface The Second-Best Haunted Hotel on Mercer Street sounds like a fun, light-hearted read – and it certainly is! But it also has a few surprises up its sleeve. Topics like mental health and depression are addressed as Willow’s dad all but becomes a shell of his former self with the death of Willow’s mom. He does zero parenting, lets the staff run the hotel, skips out of the therapy appointments Willow sets. There’s also an issue I’ve never seen come up before: truancy. When Willow’s mother died, Willow took it upon herself to keep the business running, and that meant school was no longer part of the equation. And her father’s despair is so great, he doesn’t even notice. Willow doesn’t allow herself to deal with her own grief – twelve-years-old and running a business.

I was also completely and pleasantly caught off guard by a pair of hotel ghosts: Leo and Alford, a married couple. And Leo has a drag persona, Leonata. So fun and just part of the story, rather than an Important Talking Point.

The Second-Best Haunted Hotel on Mercer Street is a total delight from the start: a David and Goliath story with ghosts. There’s witty wordplay, an LGBT ghost couple, and fun callbacks to horror tropes. It’s also a story with a hidden depth and tackles heavy topics like depression and grief. I tore through this one in no time and look forward to what the author does next!

Actually, More of a Family Story

This is being promoted as a fun ghost story. On the surface that's certainly true. But at heart this is a warm and insightful family drama and coming-of-age story involving two fine young heroines.

Willow is trying to keep her family and its ghost-themed hotel up and running after the death of her mom and her father's collapse into depression. Evie, a ghost, works along with her family of ghosts for a competing corporate owned ghost hotel, and feels trapped in her assigned strictly scripted ghost child role. The two girls meet and become friends, and through a variety of twisty plot turns they address the healing of Willow's family, the survival of Willow's hotel, and the self realization of each girl.

Notice that apart from identifying Evie as a ghost and setting the scene of two competing ghost haunted hotels, the ghost part isn't exactly central. This book could involve two girls at competing summer camps, or competing high schools, or competing circuses, or pretty much anything else, and the bones of the story would be the same. There's nothing wrong with that, or course, and if anything the actual book is more substantial and compelling than the blurbs would lead you to believe.

That's because, first, the growth and self discovery of the two girls is reasonably authentic, as are the girl characters themselves. Willow and Evie have distinctly different personalities, but each is engaging in her own fashion. Second, the ghost stuff is clever, amusing, and well conceived, which makes the drama and messages easier to swallow. I won't go into the "ghost magic system" because it makes almost no sense. (Example, if there are hundreds of haunted hotel businesses, populated by well known performing ghosts who travel about like vaudeville entertainers, why are hotel guests authentically terrified when they encounter one?) Luckily, that sort of thing doesn't matter because the ghosts are mostly there to be an extended and supportive family for Willow, and in that regard they are colorful, exotic, fussy, neurotic, funny, and, well, supportive.

This is all well written, with a sly and gentle sort of humor, and an eye for subtle puns and wordplay. There are some bumpy and unconvincing parts, but that's true of any book of this sort. Bottom line, I was engaged by Willow and Evie and quite taken with their personal hero journeys.

(Please note that I received a free advance ecopy of this book without a review requirement, or any influence regarding review content should I choose to post a review. Apart from that I have no connection at all to either the author or the publisher of this book.)

This title is perfect for young readers who want spooky stories but nothing too scary. The author does an excellent job balancing the dual POV and keeping the reader engaged with humor and creepy moments. Highly recommended!

E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus



Willow Ivan's family has run a haunted hotel for 400 years, although business has not been good lately. Her father is so distraught at the death of her mother that he pays no attention to the business at all, and Willow hasn't been to school in six months. Her mother haunts the hotel, but as a weeping woman who can't remember much, which is difficult. The hotel is staffed with actual ghosts, some of whom, like Pierce, have been there since the beginning. When a chain hotel, the Hauntery, opens up on the same street, everyone is very concerned that this will mean the end of their business. The Hotel Ivan is highly rated according to all of the best haunted hotel measures (like the Zagged guide), but offers a gentler, cozier haunted experience. The Hauntery strives for consistency across locations, so hires ghosts to fill particular roles. Evie and her family work there, and Evie and her cousin play the role of "spooky little girls" who dress in dresses and pigtails, and have a set script of asking people to play with them in a creepy fashion. When Evie goes off script, she gets in trouble with the management. The two girls meet when they both go to the local library and Evie (who is such a new ghost that she can't manipulate material objects) reads a mystery novel over Willow's shoulder. Evie does not tell Willow that she works at the Hauntery, and when Hotel Ivan is in need of a phantasm, Evie offers to work, since that is a role she would like to embrace. The Ivan's ghosts are starting to fade at an alarming rate, and Willow can't quite figure out why. Her investigations also turn up some inconsistencies at the Hauntery, where the big draw for employment is that the employees DON'T fade. As things become more and more dire, will Willow be ableto figure out the threat of the Hauntery, make peace with her parents, and keep the hotel's Zagged rating?

Strengths: I liked the fact that we were immediately plunged into Willow's world, and there were just enough explanation to keep the story going without getting bogged down in details. Details about the difficulties of running a hotel are realistic, and Willow does the best she can. The issue of her truancy is addressed. I liked that she and Evie bonded over a favorite mystery character. The Hauntery is a great, evil corporate entity, and Evie's struggles to retain her identity will resonate with middle grade readers. There is some diversity with Leo, the screaming phantasm, who has another persona as Leonata, a drag performer, and his husband Alfred.

Weaknesses: The father is so distraught that he doesn't even notice Willow hasn't attended school in six months? I will never be found of the trope of the dysfunctional grieving parent.
What I really think: This was a fun romp, but not really very scary, making it perfect for elementary students who want to read about ghosts and their antics, but has enough meat in it that middle school readers who want a book with magical realism will enjoy as well.

This was such a fun read! My favorite character was definitely Leonata, the opera singing drag queen ghost! In a world where ghosts are part of everyday life, greedy corporations are shown to be the real threat. I will definitely be recommending this to those who enjoy spooky but not scary YA. I appreciated the diverse cast of characters and the overarching lesson of self-confidence and community based values.