“An excellent addition to middle grade shelves, with a differently-abled main character that readers will root for.” —School Library Journal

“Vaught makes Max the brash, bold star of the book, exchanging stereotypes and sympathy cards for a well-drawn character whose disability is part of who she is but not her complete identity; hopefully Max will roll ahead as the advance guard of a literary cadre.” —BCCB

A Parents’ Choice Recommended Book

It’s going to take more than a knack for electronics and a supercharged wheelchair for twelve-year-old Max to investigate a haunted mansion in Edgar Award–winning author Susan Vaught’s latest middle grade mystery.

Max has always been a whiz with electronics (just take a look at her turbo-charged wheelchair). But when a hacker starts a slanderous Facebook page for her grandpa, Max isn’t sure she has the skills to take him down. The messages grow increasingly sinister, and Max fears that this is more than just a bad joke. Here’s the thing: Max has grown up in the shadow of Thornwood Manor, an abandoned mansion that is rumored to be haunted by its original owner, Hargrove Thornwood. It is said that his ghost may be biding his time until he can exact revenge on the town of Blue Creek. Why? Well, it’s complicated. To call him a jerk would be an understatement. When the hacking escalates, suddenly it looks to Max like this could really be Thornwood’s Revenge. If it is, these messages are just the beginning—and the town could be in danger. Maxine (Max) has lived most of her twelve years with her grandfather, the police chief in Blue Creek, Tennessee, in a house adjacent to Thornwood Manor, a seriously creepy mansion whose cruel and miserly erstwhile owner laid a curse on his heirs and his community that has lingered over a century. Now, a hacker with the signature Thornwood Owl is creating social media accounts, slandering the chief and the mayor and blaming them for a sudden escalation in small crimes in the town. Max, who already struggles with anger issues, is having none of this, and she’s also not letting her wheelchair prevent her from solving the mystery, even if it means risking her life investigating the crumbling mansion. . . . Vaught makes Max the brash, bold star of the book, exchanging stereotypes and sympathy cards for a well-drawn character whose disability is part of who she is but not her complete identity; hopefully Max will roll ahead as the advance guard of a literary cadre.