1-2-3-4, I Declare a Thumb War

Graveyard Girls #1

by Lisi Harrison, Daniel Kraus

#1 New York Times bestselling authors Lisi Harrison and Daniel Kraus deliver a slightly scary, extremely addictive, contemporary middle-grade book series. This first installment of Graveyard Girls is part mystery book and part friendship story, centered around five young teen girls in for the fright of their lives.
 
Meet Whisper, Frannie, Sophie, Gemma, and Zuzu, five friends who tell eerie tales by night and navigate middle school drama by day. In Misery Falls, Oregon, it is the 100th anniversary of the electrocution of the town’s most infamous killer, Silas Hoke, and the town is abuzz. When a mysterious text message leads the girls to the cemetery—where Silas Hoke is buried!—life can’t get any creepier. Except, yes, it can, thanks to the surprise storyteller who meets them at the cemetery, inspires the first-ever meeting of the Graveyard Girls, and sets the stage for a terrifying tale from Whisper that they’ll never forget.
 
Book one in a five-book series, Graveyard Girls blends popular scary books for kids (think: Goosebumps ) with strong teen girl characters into a fresh, genre-blending middle-grade series. For kids ages 9­­–12 in search of girl friendship stories and mystery books, you’ll find horror and heartfelt relationships in 1-2-3-4, I Declare a Thumb War .
 
Hardcover with dust jacket; 256 pages; 5.5 x 8.3 in. Illustrations by Flavia Sorrentino.

Genres: Middle Grade, Horror, Mystery, Paranormal, Childrens, Supernatural, Fiction

256 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2022

About the author

Lisi Harrison is the author of the #1 New York Times best-selling series "The Clique", "Alphas", "Monster High," Pretenders," and her first adult novel: "The Dirty Book Club" out 10.10.17. Lisi was born in Toronto, Canada, and lived in NYC for 15 years while she worked at MTV. She now lives in Laguna Beach, CA and is a member or her own Dirty Book Club.

Reviews

[Paula Phillips · Rating 4 out of 5]

Now and again, I do like to give children's books a read and this junior chapter book captured my attention because when I was in my mid to late teens, I first discovered Lisi Harrison with her series The Clique and enjoyed it. It was like a tween version of Gossip Girl or Pretty Little Liars without the suspense side. Then a few years later Lisi Harrison released a series called Monster High which I also enjoyed reading and so when I saw Graveyard Girls - it was a no-brainer choice for me. Graveyard Girls reminded me of a series I used to read when I was younger - 10-11 years old called The Sleepover Club by Rose Impey mixed with Ann Brashares's series Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants. This group of friends Whisper, Frannie, Sophie, Gemma, and newest recruit Zuzu are five friends who love scary stories and take turns whoever is hosting to share a scary tale and then rate it. In this book, the title refers to Whisper's story when pushed her dark side comes out. Also, the overall storyline of this book is Silas Hoke, a murderer who was killed and now haunts the town looking for victims. I enjoyed this book and it was a fun Halloween read, the other thing I loved was that each page had beautiful purple inside around the edges like purple smoke, and a little skull and tombstone to announce each chapter. If you love scary stories and looking for a tween read, check out Lisi Harrison's and Daniel Kraus's new series Graveyard Girls.

[Nicole M. Hewitt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beware! This truly creepy middle grade tome will terrify its readers–and they will be delighted!

I have to start by saying this book is not for the faint of heart. It gets downright gory in one part, so not every kid will be happy to read this. However, the most frightening and terrible part of the book is actually a story within a story (a tale that one of the characters makes up and tells), so it doesn't actually happen to any of the characters, which allows for a little sense of distance from the horror. The story is also based on a somewhat funny and ironic circumstance, so that helps as well. In fact, what the story within a story does best is fuel the kids' imaginations for the final half of the book, keeping them always on alert and ready to freak out whenever a new creepy circumstance brings the tale to mind.

The book follows five middle grade girls who live in a town that’s said to be haunted by the spirit of a madman. The girls are fond of ghost stories and they spend the week of the anniversary of his death both hoping to come face to face with his spirit and terrified of the idea! But the true horrors lie in their day-to-day lives as each girl struggles with the complexities of their relationships. Whisper is miserable about her dad’s live-in girlfriend and his family, Frannie is dealing with a best friend turned mean girl, Sophie struggles with perfectionism, Gemma wants to prove to her mom that she can be trusted and help save her mom’s business, and Zuzu doesn’t want her popular best friends to know that she’s really into horror. These problems shape the story as the girls pursue their goal of truly scaring themselves!

Kids who love R.L. Stine will be thrilled with this terrifying tale!

***Disclosure: I received this book from the publisher via Rockstar Book Tours so I could provide an honest review. No compensation was given and all opinions are my own.***

[Jacq.and.the.readstalk · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was quite surprised at how dark this was for a middle grade but then again that could be because I never read scary middle grade stories when I was a kid.

While this had a good dose of mystery, scooby-doo-esque to it, and eerie vibes, I found the group of protagonists to be borderline average, themselves and the setting in very cliched schoolgirl environment which was like a wall when trying to read on, I couldn't get past it.

I would recommend this for girls aged 11+ years, who show a liking for Scooby-Doo, Coraline, and City of Ghosts, would definitely take a liking to this.

Thank you to NetGalley and Union Square kids for this eARC in exchange for an honest review

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a really fun middle grade mystery/horror — like the Babysitters club gone spooky. The actual plot is mostly about the girls coming together and the stories they tell (including the titular thumb one, which is honestly horrifying), with a bit of overarching mystery about the Big Bad. It ends on a cliffhanger, and kind of feels like just when you’re really getting into it (after a big and frankly frustrating red herring), it’s the end, but I know that it’s setting up a series. Overall I’d definitely recommend it, especially to girls who like the interpersonal drama in realistic/relationship fiction and are looking for some fun scares.

[Bookish_Aly_Cat · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was such a delightfully spooky middle grade mystery/horror! It was interesting how the story you are expecting to read based on the title, is actually a story told within the book itself by one of the characters.

In this book you follow five middle grade girls. For the most part I liked the different POVs, but I did find myself forgetting who I was following from time to time since there was a lot of switching going on.

Overall this was a really cute read and it did a good job at tying spooky elements in. This book is perfect for fans of character driven mysteries with a lot of scary mixed in.

Thank you to the publisher for sending me a copy for an honest review.

[Tonja Drecker · Rating 4 out of 5]

The ghost of an executed murderer, spooky tales, and a spunky group of 5 girls mix steering through school drama with dangerous paranormal for a fun and chilling read.

Five best friends have formed a ghost-story club, which meets every few weeks so that they can share the scariest tales with each other. More or less. Add that it's time for the town's annual historical celebration of the brutal killer's, Silas Hoke, execution, and chills are guaranteed. That is until the friends receive a strange message, requesting them to meet at the graveyard. Now, the ghost stories are more real and dangerous than any of them had hoped.

Spooks and chills run high in these pages with enough leans to the dark-side to delight young, horror fans. There are some scarier moments with a step into brutality...after all, Silas Hoke was not a gentle murderer. Still, it's nothing more than the average reader at this intended level can handle. It does keep the tension high and holds enough surprises to keep those pages turning until the end. Even then, the ending leaves the reader wanting to know what will happen next. Luckily, there's more to come, since this is only the first in the series.

The tale reads smoothly as it switches between six points of view: each of the five friends and the mysterious ghost. Each chapter starts with the name of the character to help keep things from growing confusing, and this works quite well, especially since each one has their own interests and personality to keep them differentiated, anyway. It did take a few chapters to get a handle on each one, though, since there are also many side-characters involved. But once I got into the swing of things, it was actually helpful and engaging to approach the story from the various views. Plus, each of the five girls has other problems they are dealing with.

While the ghost, danger, and chills race the story forward, there's also quite a bit of school drama. Each girl has their own, very usual problems with family and friends. The ghost, while present from the very first chapter, seems to sit on the sidelines for the beginning half of the book before stepping up his game later on. But that doesn't hurt the tension. The individual problems of the girls not only builds each of their personalities but makes each one easier to connect with...and builds background for the story to let the chills sit even better later on. Those, who hate school drama, though, might find this aspect a bit much.

This is a fast-read with something happening on every page. It's very character driven and never lets a boring moment seep in. The balance of school drama with chills will probably entice a broad range of readers, especially since it does dive into creepy well. Especially the lower end of the middle grade audience will want to pick up this one to get ready for the spooky season. I received a DRC and enjoyed the tale quite a bit.

[Adriana · Rating 3 out of 5]

The cover of 1-2-3-4, I Declare a Thumb War basically indicates this is going to be a not-to-scary story. It features a friend group that loves telling scary stories. They are all unique but it did take a minute to distinguish them. This was mostly Whisper's story and I've got to say I do like her best. She's dealing with problems feeling isolated at home with her father's girlfriend and her phone obsessed daughter. I enjoyed that there was a spooky story within this because I mean you need to have something other than friend and family drama. The cliffhanger makes me think they might lean more into the supernatural.

[Terri · Rating 4 out of 5]

Holy cliffhanger!

[Jen]

The dedication of this middle grade book is "To all future final girls. You've got this." Say what? I'm 50 pages in, and I'm going to put this one down. I can tell it's not going to work for me.

[Schizanthus Nerd · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Legend has it that every year, on the anniversary of his death, one girl sees a flash of lightning - just like Old Sparky - and hears the thonk-thonk of Hoke’s wooden leg getting closer. Then - poof! She’s never heard from again.”

Sixth graders Whisper, Frannie, Sophie and Gemma are the Grim Sleepers. For the past two years they have had monthly sleepovers where they take turns telling scary stories. In Misery Falls, Oregon, though, the scariest story of all is that of Silas Hoke, the town’s infamous murderer.

Each year, the town hosts Hoke Week, a series of events leading up to the anniversary of his execution. This year, it’s the 100th anniversary since Silas’ death and the “atmosfear” is decidedly spooky.

The first in a new five book series, this was a fun read. The four Grim Sleepers are:

💀 Whisper, the track star. Whisper lives with her father and Miles, her ten year old brother. Unfortunately, Tina, her father’s girlfriend has also moved in and she’s brought Paisley, her daughter, and Rayne, her son, with her. Paisley is one of the popular girls in Whisper’s class. Ugh!

💀 Frannie, the actress. Frannie has twin baby brothers, Sami and Balthazar. She doesn’t want to speak about her falling out with Miranda.

💀 Sophie, the straight A student. Sophie puts an immense amount of pressure on herself to be as good (or better) than Jade, her older sister.

💀 Gemma, the leader. Gemma is the Grim Sleeper who truly believes in the supernatural. Layla, her mother, and Harmony, her aunt, run a metaphysical supplies store called Spirit Sanctuary.

Although she’s not one of the four friends we meet in the beginning of the book, Zuzu quickly became my favourite character. She’s creative and she’s into horror movies. There’s a big part of herself that she keeps hidden and I can’t wait to see her character grow throughout the series.

Although it’s beyond a cliché at this point to have a friendship group consisting of the leader, the dramatic one, the jock, the smart one and the creative one, middle grade readers likely won’t have come across this too many times yet. Despite the cliché, I liked the girls. They each have their own struggles relating to school or family and being able to read chapters from all of their perspectives helped me to care about what happened to each of them.

I may have missed something but throughout the book Frannie keeps the details of the falling out between her and Miranda a secret from her friends. Later, though, we’re told that the whole school knows the story.

One of the characters plays Camille Saint-Saëns’ Danse Macabre, which I’d never heard played on the piano before. I’m exhausted and all I did was watch someone else play it.

I’m looking forward to continuing this series.

I know this town. Its corners. Its alleys. Its hiding spots. Most of all, its dead ends.
And Misery Falls is one giant dead end. Escape is impossible.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Union Square Kids, an imprint of Union Square & Co., for the opportunity to read this book.

Blog - https://schizanthusnerd.com

[D · Rating 4 out of 5]

Okay. This book is totally cute. It’s creepy in all the right ways for middle grade and it had those nostalgic feels that I’ve been looking for in like titles. It hit all the right notes. Plus, I loved the concept behind the thumb war and what that turns out being. So apropos and I cackled a little when I read that part.

I do rather despise the title of the book, though. I like Graveyard Girls, and I think that’s the series’ name. I hate 1-2-3-4, I Declare a Thumb War. It’s clunky and doesn’t do the story justice. It’s also not indicative of the plot. I feel like the publisher could have come up with a better title there. Something that doesn’t sound so sugary sweet and very childish, neither things describe the story.

The pacing of the story was a little weird because of that thumb war story dropping right in the middle of it. Like literally the thumb war story is a story Whisper tells to her group of friends that is not actually relevant to the plot of the story. When she’s telling it, the story completely stops, starts this new thumb war story, and then concludes that story and allows the primary story to continue. I don’t necessarily dislike it, but I’m not sure I like it either.

I had kind of a hard time keeping all the characters straight, except Zuzu. She stood off on her own well enough. But I often found myself forgetting which POV I was in and who had what details assigned to who. I’m just going to chalk that up to my own head not being able to keep that many details straight.

I loved the ending and the sort of found family the Graveyard Girls end up being, but I also kind of dislike the ending too. This ties into the dedication of the book: to all my future final girls (assuming this didn’t change in the final print). Reading that dedication without knowing the ending is actually quite horrifying, and I’m not sure the ending makes it any better. The book kind of tries to redefine what a final girl is, ascribing a more girl power message to it. At the same time it also really glosses over what makes a final girl a final girl: surviving a serial killer and acquiring a shitton of trauma along the way, basically. I get what they’re doing, but at the same time, we’re ignoring a whole lot of stuff here. Especially in light of what children are required to do in schools (active shooter drills, wear bullet proof backpacks) because mass casualty events have become the norm, calling a bunch of children future final girls is gauche, at the very least.

Storywise, I loved it. It’s a great balance of cute and creepy that I would have appreciated as a kid reading this. It’s not without its faults, though, that I probably wouldn’t have picked up on as that kid reading it.

4

I received this book from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

[Elias · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun but very bizarre and surprisingly dark and gory middle grade novel.

The writing style is fun but tonally jarring. One moment you have a Babysitter’s Club group of friends joking about poop and silly horror stories, then you have prisoners frying by the electric chair and kids slicing off their thumbs by the sinews. It felt like the author wanted to write a Stephen King novel for kids but the result has some incredible tonal whiplash.

I liked the characters but I wish the plot had a clearer structure. You think the story is gonna lead up to some supernatural scares, then the reveal seemingly dispels that direction. The plot is disrupted by a story within the story which I honestly found captivating and gruesome, too much for a middle grade novel — I’m surprised the editors let this one fly. Then we return to the main cast and the book ends without a clear resolution, setting itself up for a continuation but doesn’t feel satisfying by itself. There are multiple POV characters and I couldn’t pinpoint the lead nor their Want.

The girl’s town celebrates the grisly execution of a prisoner, and only in the last few pages do the girls start to feel some empathy for the tragic one legged veteran. The turn of face feels unwarranted because the whole story depicts him as a boogeyman and very little investigation is done to explain his tragic circumstances.

I don’t know if it’s intentional or not, but I found some of the characters to be comedically naive.
— Sophie’s family celebrates their quesadillas with little Spanish flags. Quesadillas are a Mexican dish so I don’t know if the author intended for Sophie’s family to be well meaning but kinda clueless, or if this is an oversight of the author.

—Whisper critiques Zuzu for wearing snakeskin and leather, encouraging her sell the offending belongings and donate to PETA. But Whisper, and the focus of the novel, centers on her fascination with murder, gore, and exploiting tragedies for entertainment.

—The Asian character, Zuzu, is denoted with a purple streak in her hair, a well-known trope. The author is aware of pop culture tropes as referenced in the novel, so again I don’t know if Zuzu is naively playing into a stereotype or if the author is doing so.

If I continue to read the series, I hope these oddities are addressed.

I’m on the fence about reading the next novel. I had fun overall, but I think the cover is really misleading about its demographic and the content within could frighten kids.

[Our Weekend Is Booked · Rating 3 out of 5]

Best friends Frannie, Gemma, Whisper, and Sophie share a common love of spooky stories. They call themselves the Grim Sleepers and rotate having sleepovers at each other's homes where they share creepy and scary stories. Growing up in Misery Falls, Oregon, the girls heard the tale of the evil Silas Hoke, the town's most famous criminal, and attended the yearly Hoke festival to expel him from the town.

This year the town planned a week-long celebration for the 100th anniversary of Silas Hoke's electrocution. At the same time, the girls receive a mysterious text message from an unknown number asking them to meet in the graveyard. The mystery of who sent the text message is revealed about halfway through the book and is a fun little twist.

The spooky stories in Graveyard Girls are more outrageous and silly than they are scary. Whisper tells a story about teens addicted to technology (not me giving my son the side eye) whose thumbs want to take over the world. It felt like a relevant tale that the target audience would enjoy.

The story was told from multiple perspectives, giving the reader insight into the character's feelings. The plot was focused on the paranormal, but the girls' personal lives were also addressed. Throughout the story, we see Whisper struggling with her blended family, Frannie dealing with a bully, Gemma wanting the approval of her family, and Sophie striving to be the perfect student to get her parents' attention. Readers may have experienced some of these same struggles and will feel connected to the characters.

For kids who are looking for something spooky without being a horror novel, Graveyard Girls is a fun read. This book ends with a cliffhanger that makes you eager to read the next in the series.

This review first appeared on YA Book Central and can be found here https://www.yabookscentral.com/1-2-3-...

[Jenna Deaton · Rating 5 out of 5]

1-2-3-4, I Declare a Thumb War, book one of the Grave yard girls follows a group of young horror loving friends navigating the more messy elements of life with a good dose of scares and silly to help them along the way.

What Worked for me
1. Young girls telling each other scary stories as a form of bonding was just a wonderful premise from the start. The Group as a whole also gives me extreme Are you afraid of the dark nostalgia.
2.There is an excellent mystery element to the story as an Unknown individual has summoned the friend group to gather in a local graveyard during the small town's celebration centered on banishing the spirit of a murderer.
3.Messy family dynamics, spiritual matters,small business problems, and complicated ex friendships are shown with compassion and care.
4.I loved the scary story told within the story element.
5.One of the main friend group works in her family's alternative spirituality shop and as a pagan I just love that so much.

What Didn't work as well for me
1. The acting director brought in for one of the main character's acting group pulls a quirky lets change who is acting as the lead move that just feels like a way to artificially increase tension that is already pretty high between two characters.
2.One of the central scary stories relies heavily on a body horror element. (If that's your jam you are going to love it.)
3.I have to wait for the second book to exist now. Seriously though the ending will leave you screaming for a sequel now.

Who Do I recommend this story for
1-2-3-4, I Declare a Thumb War is an excellent read for fans of middle grade and children's Lit that are looking for a story reminiscent of the goosebumps era filled with the energy of friendship and girl Power. I am looking forward to future installments of the Graveyard Girls.

[OpenedBooks · Rating 5 out of 5]

A spooktastic story about growing up as a group and adapting to everyone changing in different ways.

The story of the Graveyard Girls was very nostalgic. Originally, I expected something more fantasy, but then I was pleasantly surprised that this book was about growing up with a friend group. I had a group of friends myself: we would have a lot of sleepovers, tell scary stories and do some spooky dares on a cemetery. So, I really could see myself in these girls. Over the years, we grew apart and went in different directions. This book shows this development perfectly. Around the age of twelve, we start finding ourselves, who we are, what we like, what we want from life, etc. Sometimes, that means finding new friends or new ways of being friends. But it often also means saying goodbye to old friends. With everything else going on, navigating friendships during this time can be extremely difficult. But in the end, it can blossom into something that lasts forever. Whisper and her friends are right in the middle of this development. They are feeling the drift and are trying to hold on, but ultimately, they figure out that showing up for each other and adapting their friendship is what they need most to get through puberty. Thus, the Graveyard Girls are born.

I expected to be more scared, but seeing that this isn’t a fantasy but a contemporary middle-grade novel, this scariness felt real and perfectly suited for the story unfolding.

I’m excited to read book 2 next and can’t wait to see what the Graveyard Girls are up to next.

[Debbie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this to be a fun blend of scary ghost stories with a touch of humor.

Ready for a nail-biting legend?
Silas Hoke, a former Marine with a wooden leg, who just happened to be a PE teacher at Misery Falls, was sentenced to death for murdering a student. Legend has it that each year on the anniversary of his electrocution he returns to claim another victim.

Misery Falls draws tourists annually as the town attempts to ward off the evil spirit. And since this is the 100-year anniversary it is even more meaningful.

But this notorious town is also the home of the Grim Sleepers monthly club of middle-grade girls. Friends who meet to share scary tales. However, this particular year the members find themselves doing more than telling stories. They all receive an anonymous note asking them to do something.

This story will keep readers on their toes wondering what will happen next. And the girls, who have rather stereotyped personalities of the smart, sporty, drama queen, and leader, probably won’t disrupt readers.

1-2-3-4, I Declare A Thumb War is the first in a five-book series.

Final Thoughts
I think this has the right touch of spookiness, humor, and morals blended together to keep kids reading. And who doesn’t love a group called Grim Sleepers?

My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early copy to review.

[Jill Jemmett · Rating 4 out of 5]

Whisper, Frankie, Sophie, and Gemma are best friends who have a club where they tell each other scary stories. Their small town of Misery Falls, Oregon is having a celebration to mark the 100th anniversary of the electrocution of their most infamous serial killer, Silas Hoke. Just as the celebration week is about to begin, all of the girls get a mystery text, inviting them to the cemetery where Silas is buried. This sets them off on a scary adventure to find out of Silas has come back to haunt the town.

This was a fun introduction to a new middle grade horror series. The friends were distinct and had their own subplots as well as the main plot. Many of them had problems with their families and issues at school. One of the big problems I noticed throughout the book was adults not listening to the children. I think that would be relatable because that’s a common feeling as a preteen or teen.

The friends in this story made up their own scary stories to share with the group. There was one full short story in this book which was about technology addiction in kids. It was creepy and exaggerated, but definitely relevant with how much everyone is addicted to technology these days.

1-2-3-4, I Declare a Thumb War is a fun and creepy story!

Thank you Union Square Kids for sending me a copy of this book.

[C.L. Colyer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Definitely an interesting book. I found myself laughing out loud at the beginning of the book. For four girls who love telling spooky stories, they are a bit of scaredy cats, but it’s all part of the fun. The story quickly moves on and is told from alternating POVs that work well. The mystery has a Scooby-Doo-esque feel and discovering how the girls will unravel it was entertaining.

What I didn’t like:
- There were a lot of characters thrown at the reader at the beginning of the book. It was a lot of names to remember.
- The story within the story, which is where the book gets its title. This spooky tale within the book is told by one of the characters, and it’s not too long. Young readers might feel quite differently than I did.

This book is the first in a five-book series, and I think kids between the ages of 10-13 who enjoy spooky stories and being a part of a secret club will like this one.

Thanks to the publisher for sending a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

[Kay S. · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm usually a strong proponent of including horror fiction in my RA work. I'm constantly on the lookout for something I can replace my constant recommendation of The Night Gardner (the beginning of my lifelong love of Jonathan Auxier). This one does a great job setting a familiar horror-trope filled scene perfect for kids who are looking for a step up from watching the new Hocus Pocus film. It's the characters that give me pause. They are 11 and 12 and while they will be emulating the teens in their life, I can't help but feel like they were children in age only. Like someone had rewritten a book about young teens (13-15 maybe?) with quick mentions of middle school and being 12. They act like teens. Not children. Especially in terms of their nemeses. It's easy to tell that Harrison has been writing YA for quite some time and is familiar with the genre and how teen characters act. I just couldn't get past that to really enjoy the horror for children.

Also, again, another adult with the "oh children and technology are bad!" approach to middle-grade horror. Seriously?

[The Library's Ghost · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review!

I want to thank the publisher for letting me have the chance to read this book ahead of release. Once I read the synopsis I knew this would be the perfect tale for me as I love spooky stories and always sought them out when I was younger from the library.

I think this story was a lot of fun. The pacing is great and keeps things interesting while giving us the right amount of detail for our characters and plot. I love how different our main friend group is and how their dynamic works together as the story plays out.

Definitely a fun read for many age groups!

[Patrick Peek · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a cute and spooky middle grade book about a group of girls that get together each month to tell scary stories. It alternates chapters between the main characters to give you a little insight into all of their lives. While this book is about a scary story club, it also deals with issues kids face in the real world.

I enjoyed this book and it does get genuinely spooky for a middle grade book. I would say it’s definitely more for the older middle grade crowd, as some of the spooky stuff might be too much for younger kids.

The book left off on a cliffhanger so now I’m eagerly awaiting book two to see what happens next.

[Nessa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you Netgalley for the eARC! I love spooky books and this MG book was hella spooky with a bit of gore. The thumb story totally creeped me out. I thought the characters were all very interesting with their personal struggles of growing up and navigating family and relationships, and I'm curious to see how Zuzu deals with both friend groups later in the series. I liked the ending with Whisper's family situation and how that got resolved as well. I can't wait to see what other adventures the Graveyard Girls get up to! Their club totally sounds like something I would've joined when I was younger.

[Mandy Kell · Rating 4 out of 5]

1-2-3-4, I Declare a Thumb War by Lisi Harrison and Daniel Kraus is a fun, mysterious tale about a group of girls who love to tell spooky tales. This book was such a delight and I really appreciated the multiple points of view. Each of the Graveyard Girls is so different but they work great as a team when they look into the haunting mystery of Silas Hoke. This book is perfect for fans of The Babysitter's Club mixed with Goosebumps.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

[Latitude · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lisi Harrison is a really prolific author, and it’s because she writes pop fiction, which is not necessarily Good Fiction. This book is. Fine. I read a lot of REALLY GOOD middle grade fiction, and this is not REALLY GOOD middle grade fiction. It’s perfectly fine middle grade, and one thing about the Graveyard Girls is that they aren’t the terrifying caricatures of the middle school girls of Harrison’s THE CLIQUE series, but unfortunately they shake out to be Just Perfectly Fine. Readalikes and better recs: CORALINE, SMALL SPACES, SCOOBY-DOO. Three stars.

[Haley Kilgour · Rating 3 out of 5]

So the opening with Silas’s pov was super interesting and I liked how it kept up. It was also interesting to learn that Zuzu was writing those as part of her horror writing.

The full reading of the thumb war story though just didn’t add anything to the plot. So it was 3 chapters of useless.

Once Silas’s POVs we’re revealed to be Zuzu writing, the whole plot of the story seemed to slip away.

There just wasn’t anything connecting what the girls were doing to the paranormal. Until right at the end.

[Eule Luftschloss]

Sadly, this seems to be one of those middlegrade novels that only really work if you're in the target audience and rn I have no patience to spend my time reading things I know I won't like.

If you think this premise sounds interesting, I urge you to look up what other people say about it - especially if you're either a young reader or looking for something for someone in that age range.

The arc was provided by the publisher.

[Laura Mauro · Rating 3 out of 5]

* I got this for review*

I am not a big horror person but this was a super cute and fun read It def gave me prefect fall vibes and it remnded me a lot of are your afraid of the dark from when i was youngr.I also liked the small town vibes and that remidned me of halloween town or gilmore girls vibes. I really liked how this story also tackled common middle school issues like friendship drama!! I will def check out more books in this series and pass it on to my students

[krista | overbookt · Rating 1 out of 5]

While I'm not the target audience for this book for young readers, I did find it was written in quite a mature way in some parts. To me, the story was a little chaotic, especially because the book title only relates to a small part in the entire book. It's a cute idea for a series, and the characters were sweet and easy to differentiate. I'd like to explore the series a bit more maybe, but this first installment fell a flat.

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very well done and very well thought out. Great start to the series, 5 girls, each backstory is there, what makes them special in the group is well defined and the characters are well written and believable for middle grade readers. I will definitely be handselling this series to our older middle grade readers,(10-13). So many great stories inside this story, I loved it!

[Bonnie Grover · Rating 3 out of 5]

Perfect for an elementary student who is looking for a spooky, but not too spooky story. Four tween girls have a Grim Sleepers club and isn’t that the best part of slumber parties- telling scary stories. But then these girls run into trouble with the supernatural. I think this is going to be a popular book in our elementary library. Thank you @libro.fm