The Second-Best Haunted Hotel on Mercer Street

A quirky middle-grade paranormal adventure about a haunted hotel that must compete with a new corporate haunt that moves in down the street

Twelve-year-old Willow Ivan’s family has always run The Hotel Ivan, which has been the Best Haunted Hotel on Mercer Street for hundreds of years. But when a Hauntery—a corporate chain of haunted hotels—moves in down the street, The Ivan staff fear their days are numbered. But then Willow meets Evie, a Hauntery ghost who is forced to play a Spooky Little Girl character for her entire afterlife.

Evie longs to be a Terrifying Phantasm, so Evie offers Willow a job at The Ivan. Afraid of losing a potential friend and a chance at her dream, Evie doesn’t tell Willow that she’s working at the Hauntery. Together, the girls come up with a plan to save The Ivan. But with The Ivan ghosts already fading, Evie’s secret threatening to come out, and corruption at the highest level stacked against them, will it be too late?

About the Author

Cory Putman Oakes is the author of Dinosaur Boy, Dinosaur Boy Saves Mars, and Witchtown. She lives, writes, and often bakes in Austin, Texas.