The Most Frightening Story Ever Told

Gr 5–8—Kerr's latest delivers on the promise of its title. Young Billy Shivers hasn't been the same since being involved in a devastating car accident, and during his recuperation, he frequents the Hitchcock Public Library, discovering a love of books, particularly ghost stories. When he stumbles upon the Haunted House of Books, he quickly becomes a fixture at the spooky spot, which is part bookshop and part booby trap. Crotchety Mr. Rapscallion, the owner, has turned an old mansion into a series of rooms, each more terrifying than the prior, with subterranean libraries, shaky spiral staircases, and things that go bump in the night. Within its walls, Billy finds courage; befriends Mr. Rapscallion's estranged daughter, Redford; and meets a multitude of quirky shopgoers. Child psychologist Elizabeth Wollstonecraft-Godwin professes to possess the scariest book ever written, and when she approaches Rapscallion with the experiment to see if any children can survive hearing the tale without being terrified, an unusual contest is born. Hoping to revive his financially failing bookshop, Rapscallion offers five youths, including Billy, the chance to win $1,000. A wannabe teenage ghost hunter and a band of mischievous troublemakers round out the cast of characters in this immensely hair-raising, ghostly tale with surprising twists and turns.