Miyazaki, Hayao. (Director). (2001). Spirited Away [Motion picture]. United States: Walt Disney Pictures. Ages 9-14.

While moving to their new home, a sullen Chihiro and her parents stumble upon what looks like an old amusement park. Suddenly her parents are transformed into pigs and Chihiro discovers that they are trapped in a resort spa for traditional Japanese gods and spirits. Chihiro meets a young boy named Haku who encourages her to get a job from Yubaba at the spa if she wants to transform her parents back to normal. There she meets a series of characters who challenge and befriend her, and as she matures she finds the strength and love within herself to aid Haku and save her parents from a terrible fate.

Nix, Garth. Sabriel. HarperCollins, 1995. ISBN 0060273224. Ages 12-14.

Sabriel, daughter of the necromancer Abhorsen, must journey into the mysterious and magical Old Kingdom to rescue her father from the Land of the Dead. In this first book of the trilogy, readers are introduced to Sabriel and the Old Kingdom as she fights to save her father. Tweens will identify with her need to discover who she truly is and be drawn in to her quest to fight evil and find the only man who can truly give her those answers and show her what she is to become.

Scott, Michael. The Alchemyst: The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel. Delacorte Press, 2007. ISBN 978-0385733571. Ages 10-14.

Josh never expected so much excitement and adventure when he took a job at Nick Fleming’s bookshop. One minute he’s searching for a book on the shelves, and the next minute he discovers his boss is the famed Alchemyst Nicholas Flamel. Soon he and his twin sister Sophie are caught up in a whirlwind of magic, creatures and immortal beings, and follow Flamel on a dangerous path to rescue his wife from the clutches of the evil John Dee, as well as discover their true magical potential.

Selick, Henry. (Director). (2009). Coraline [Motion picture]. United States: Focus Features. Ages 9-14.

Coraline can’t believe her luck when she finds a secret door in her boring new house that leads to a world much like her own, but so much better. But things are not quite what they seem when Coraline’s “other mother” tells her that the only way she can stay in this world she loves is to sew buttons over her eyes like all the others there. Terrified, Coraline refuses, but when her “other mother” kidnaps her real parents in order to keep Coraline there forever, she must return to this frightening world to save them and defeat the evil woman who will stop at nothing to get what she wants. Based on Neil Gaiman’s popular book for tweens.

Marsh, Katherine. The Night Tourist. Hyperion Books for Children, 2007. ISBN 978-1423106890. Ages 9-14.

After getting hit by a car Jack Perdu starts seeing things, so his father sends him to a special doctor in New York City. There he meets Euri, a ghost girl his age who leads him down below Grand Central Station into the New York Underworld. Having left the city eight years before after his mother died, Jack realizes that this is the chance for him to see his mother again. So they travel through the ghostly world together, their mission unearthing both the truth about Euri’s intentions and the truth about Jack’s mother.

Klise, Kate. 43 Old Cemetery Road: Dying to Meet You. Harcourt, 2009. ISBN 978-0152057275. Ages 9-12.

Best-selling children’s author Ignatius B. Grumply has a serious case of writer’s block, so he’s hoping that the house he’s renting at 43 Old Cemetery Road will give him the peace and quiet he needs to finally write another book. What he doesn’t expect is that the ghost of its original owner, Olive C. Spence, already occupies the house. As does a young boy named Seymour and his cat Shadow. Now how will Grumply ever get his book written? Perhaps all he needs is a little help from the only family he’s got. Written in the form of notes, letters and newspaper articles, this book is sure to have you laughing in no time!

Bloor, Edward. London Calling. Alfred A. Knopf, 2006. ISBN 978-0375836350. Ages 10-14.

If anyone has something to be depressed about, it’s Martin Conway. His father is a drunk and a disgrace to the family. His family worships his late grandfather, whom he was named after. And his mother insists on making him attend All Souls Preparatory in order to live up to that namesake. But all Martin really wants to do is sleep. So when he receives his grandmother’s old radio and through it a young boy reaches out to him from the past, Martin is sure he’s going crazy. But fact by fact, every “dream” he experiences checks out. And as the story unfolds, he is asked the all-important question—What did you do to help?

This powerful and moving book not only chronicles a heartbreaking story set in WWII London, but also the story of a young boy who is battling his own demons on several fronts. Besides suffering through the everyday battles of being in middle school, he is dealing with real issues of alcoholism and depression in his family, and surviving a war in his dreams. Martin is a dynamic character, struggling to make sense of the world around him. Bloor does so by illustrating his struggles through vivid flashbacks, where you can almost feel the bombs dropping and smell the fires burning. Together with Martin, tweens will struggle to figure out his purpose, and perhaps walk away from the book wondering what they can do to help as well.

Gaiman, Neil. The Graveyard Book. HarperCollins, 2008. ISBN 978-0060530921. Ages 10-14.

In some ways, Nobody Owens (known simply as Bod) is a normal kid like any other. He has a family and friends who love him, teachers who teach him, and freedom from the burdens of the real world. But that is where normal ends. Raised by ghosts in a graveyard after his family is brutally murdered, Bod grows from toddler to teen in a world of ghouls and witches, spirits and hellhounds. As he experiences one adventure after another, he can’t help but wish for a “normal” life outside the graveyard full of school, friends, and the living. But the graveyard is the only safe place for Bod, who continues to be hunted down by a man known only as “Jack,” the same man who killed his family and is determined to finish the job once and for all. It will take great courage, cunning and the help of the only family he has ever known to defeat Jack once and for all, allowing Bod to finally be freed from life as a child amongst the dead and enter the world of the living as a young man.