THE RED GHOST

Known for her ghostly tales, Bauer has successfully opened a trap door for transitional readers who want a scary—but not too scary—story. This companion to The Blue Ghost (2005), part of the Stepping Stones series, features an old doll dressed in red velvet that Jenna finds at a neighbor’s garage sale. It’s just the gift she needs for her younger sister’s birthday, and the neighbor even gives it to her for free! But when Jenna’s cat hisses and attacks the doll, and strange sounds come from it in her closet, she tries to get rid of it, even putting it in a garbage can. Is the muted voice calling for help coming from the doll? Why won’t Mrs. Tate take the doll back? Is the doll haunted or haunting? Ferguson’s sketchy black-and-white drawings decorate the text, but it’s the eerie plot that will have girls racing to the end, and even looking at old dolls with widened eyes. Bauer’s hit on a perfect formula, and like Andrew Lang with his Fairy Books, she has many more colors to go. (Fiction. 7-10)