Do you love a good book? Our Children’s Librarians do! And we’re excited to share some great recommendations with you. This page gets updated regularly with reviews of the latest books we’ve been reading.
Teacher's Pet by Richie Tankersley Cusick
Think R.L Stine but just a little bit more scary! Teachers Pet is a classic kids horror story and perfect reading for Halloween. This book is for kids aged 10+
The main character – Kate – has won a trip to a writing retreat. Kate says she likes a thrill and writes scary stories herself so isn’t scared easily. But scary events start to happen in real life as soon as she arrives and Kate is scared. First her teacher goes missing, then she makes a gruesome discovery. The retreat is set near woodlands where Kate finds a spooky old house which looks abandoned. Why are the woods and the house off limits to everyone? She encounters a ghostly figure one day near the house, a girl called Rowena. But Rowena remains a mystery to Kate, she talks strangely and sounds like she has been in an accident. Kate wants to get to the bottom of the mystery but she might get hurt if she tries.
Most of the action takes place in the second half of the book but the first half sets up the characters well, although Kate is the most well rounded character of the book. Yes, it’s an older book now and very much relies on old school horror – there will be blood smeared on the mirror! This book came out in the early 90s, it’s silly and I’m not sure how believable it is but it’s a lot fun and is actually scary! Richie Tankersley Cusick, and R.L Stine for that matter, first started writing for the Point Horror series by Scholastic in the late 80s and early 90s and they, along with a bunch of other authors wrote some really spine chilling tales!
This was my favourite book when I was 10 years old, I’ve read a lot of horror and this story still stands out to me so I think it deserves a read by anyone who likes horror stories.
Trick or Treat and The Lifeguard are my other favourite Point Horror books by Richie. Richie also wrote the very first Buffy the Vampire Slayer novel!
Find other books Richie has written here in our catalogue
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Kids Reading Lists
Not sure what to read next? We’ve got all the book suggestions you need! Check out our themed book lists, they are updated every month. From physical books to e-books and e-audiobooks that you can download to your phone, computer or tablet, we’ve selected some fantastic titles for you to choose from.
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