My Haunted House is the first in the series of five stories about Araminta Spook, a little girl who lives with her Aunt and Uncle in a huge old mansion, full of strange and unexpected things. Aunt Tabitha is fed up trying to keep the house going by herself - nothing really works properly any more and she can't get anyone from the local village to come and work at Spook House. She decides to sell the house, and move to a smaller house which is easier to manage. Uncle Drac spends most of his time hanging upside down in the tower, so it is up to Araminta to save her home.
Araminta enlists the help of the other occupants of the house, who are horrified to hear that it may be sold to another family, or even worse, knocked down completely. Aunt Tabitha has no idea that the ghosts are all on Araminta's side, helping her to scare away potential buyers. Araminta's scheme is successful until the Wizzard family turns up, they are not scared of anything. Araminta needs a new plan, and fast.
Angie Sage has written a very funny story for middle readers who like a spooky setting without being too scared! Araminta is a resourceful girl who comes up with a practical solution which keeps most people happy. I think Jimmy Pickering's illustrations are a perfect match for the story, full of vampires, spiderwebs and ghosts as well as Araminta and her family.
The other books in the series are The Sword in the Grotto, Frognapped!, Vampire Brat and Ghostsitters. Angie is also the author of the Septimus Heap books for older children. Her website is at www.angiesage.com
