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Saranormal #9
Playing With Fire
Sara nervously prepares for a paranormal confession—and staying in a haunted hotel isn’t helping!
Sara has made a big She’s finally going to tell her best friend about her powers. When Lily’s family invites Sara to come along with them on a trip to the Adirondacks, Sara thinks it will be the perfect opportunity to talk to Lily. After all, having a serious discussion about paranormal stuff will be a lot easier outside a haunted town like Stellamar.
But when they arrive in the Adirondacks, Sara learns that they are staying in a very haunted hotel. So haunted, in fact, that a psychic has been called in to help drive the ghosts out. It seems that Sara can’t avoid ghosts and psychics no matter where she goes! Can she escape the mayhem long enough to have her heart-to-heart with Lily? What will happen if Sara doesn’t get the reaction she’s hoping for?
Sara has made a big She’s finally going to tell her best friend about her powers. When Lily’s family invites Sara to come along with them on a trip to the Adirondacks, Sara thinks it will be the perfect opportunity to talk to Lily. After all, having a serious discussion about paranormal stuff will be a lot easier outside a haunted town like Stellamar.
But when they arrive in the Adirondacks, Sara learns that they are staying in a very haunted hotel. So haunted, in fact, that a psychic has been called in to help drive the ghosts out. It seems that Sara can’t avoid ghosts and psychics no matter where she goes! Can she escape the mayhem long enough to have her heart-to-heart with Lily? What will happen if Sara doesn’t get the reaction she’s hoping for?
160 pages, Paperback
First published August 6, 2013
6 people are currently reading
323 people want to read
About the author
Phoebe Rivers
26 books49 followersPhoebe Rivers had a brush with the paranormal when she was thirteen years old, and ever since then, she has been fascinated by people who see spirits and can communicate with them. In addition to her intrigue with all things paranormal, Phoebe also loves cats, French cuisine, and wiling her afternoons away in coffee shops writing stories. Phoebe has written dozens of middle-grade fiction books and is thrilled to now be exploring Sara’s paranormal world.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
April 21, 2014
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 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.
January 10, 2020
In "Playing With Fire," the 9th installment in the series, Sara is facing a lot of more grown up issues than ever before. She has been texting Mason, the boy she was having visions about, and they have developed a secret relationship/bond over their shared special abilities. She is keeping this relationship a secret from Lily, and continues to feel bad about keeping secrets from her best friend.
For the first time, we leave the Jersey Shore setting to travel with Lily's Aunt Angela to New York for a surprise vacation. Here, at a resort in the Adirondack Mountains, the girls are tasked with trying out all the new teen activities that the resort has to offer. Aunt Angela is on an under cover assignment to write a review of the place.
Sara is relieved to get away from all the ghosts she can see in her old house in New Jersey, but soon finds that she is now staying in an old hotel that is haunted as well! This is not a new idea and felt a bit like many movies/TV shows I've seen, yet it worked pretty well.
Lily wants to investigate the area of the hotel where ghosts have been seen and while the girls are sneaking around they meet Laura. Laura was hired by the owner to rid the hotel of the its ghost problem. Laura has some psychic powers, but not enough to deal with this problem by the deadline the hotel manager has set. Sara knows that in order to help her, she would have to reveal her own powers and is reluctant to do that.
As the title suggests, we are dealing with pyrokinesis this time around. A girl who had the power to start fires with her mind is haunting the house she used to live in before it was turned into a hotel. The girl's story ties in with Sara's own fear of being ostracized. Sara learns how this girl, Belinda, was born with the power of pyrokinesis at a time when few people understood such things. She was ostracized from her family and friends with tragic results. It's a bit of a heavy topic, but, I guess, if you've gotten this far with Sara you can handle a little intensity.
Sara makes several attempts to tell Lily her secret that fail, but eventually it does come out -- first to Lily and then to Laura. There are a lot of messy emotions to deal with but in the end it is the three of them: Laura, Lily and Sara who work together to neutralize Belinda.
So clearly Sara is now "out" so to speak...and will presumably return home to the Jersey Shore a changed person. I can't wait to see what comes next in this awesome series!
For the first time, we leave the Jersey Shore setting to travel with Lily's Aunt Angela to New York for a surprise vacation. Here, at a resort in the Adirondack Mountains, the girls are tasked with trying out all the new teen activities that the resort has to offer. Aunt Angela is on an under cover assignment to write a review of the place.
Sara is relieved to get away from all the ghosts she can see in her old house in New Jersey, but soon finds that she is now staying in an old hotel that is haunted as well! This is not a new idea and felt a bit like many movies/TV shows I've seen, yet it worked pretty well.
Lily wants to investigate the area of the hotel where ghosts have been seen and while the girls are sneaking around they meet Laura. Laura was hired by the owner to rid the hotel of the its ghost problem. Laura has some psychic powers, but not enough to deal with this problem by the deadline the hotel manager has set. Sara knows that in order to help her, she would have to reveal her own powers and is reluctant to do that.
As the title suggests, we are dealing with pyrokinesis this time around. A girl who had the power to start fires with her mind is haunting the house she used to live in before it was turned into a hotel. The girl's story ties in with Sara's own fear of being ostracized. Sara learns how this girl, Belinda, was born with the power of pyrokinesis at a time when few people understood such things. She was ostracized from her family and friends with tragic results. It's a bit of a heavy topic, but, I guess, if you've gotten this far with Sara you can handle a little intensity.
Sara makes several attempts to tell Lily her secret that fail, but eventually it does come out -- first to Lily and then to Laura. There are a lot of messy emotions to deal with but in the end it is the three of them: Laura, Lily and Sara who work together to neutralize Belinda.
So clearly Sara is now "out" so to speak...and will presumably return home to the Jersey Shore a changed person. I can't wait to see what comes next in this awesome series!
September 19, 2023
This was probably the best one of these of the series so far! I loved seeing Sarah and Lily outside of Stellamar and essentially on a ghost hunt in a haunted hotel! This had a great ghost back-story, a lot of drama for Sarah and Lily and no Lady Azura telling a 12 y/o "You'll figure it out eventually" when she's afraid she's going to die.
December 28, 2016
I loved this book. The book kept me going. Finished it in about an hour and a half. The plot twisted and it was marvelously written.
September 5, 2022
A very great book !!!
February 7, 2025
I enjoyed the excursion outside of Stellamar. The mountain resort was an intriguing setting. The story was fast paced and the teen interaction on vacation was realistic.
March 26, 2014
When Sara is invited to a new hotel by Lily's aunt, she ends up finding a ghost.
The ghost is dangerous, more so than most of the other ghost she meets.
To top it off, she tries to tell Lily about her gifts.
It was an awesome addition to the series.
The ghost is dangerous, more so than most of the other ghost she meets.
To top it off, she tries to tell Lily about her gifts.
It was an awesome addition to the series.
January 9, 2017
I like how these books are about friendship. They have a good message for teenaged girls.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews