Winner, 2024 Midland Authors Award for Children’s Fiction
2025 Eric Hoffer Award Category Finalist
Madeleine “Lainie” Stanton is about to make headlines. Born at the millennium precisely at midnight, she’s turning 12, and a TV station wants an interview. But when the reporter finds out Lainie’s great-grandmother Madeleine was hanged for murder, the story threatens to blow up into something quite different. Racing against time to prove her ancestor was framed, Lainie and her two best friends follow clues that seem to come in a shocking way—from Madeleine herself.
MADDIE’S GHOST is middle-grade fiction, contemporary psychological suspense, woven around a young girl’s race to solve a 1930s mystery involving her great-grandmother. A story with heart, humor, family, friends, and a twisty old house.
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Discussion and Resources | First Chapters | Audiobook Chapter
(Audiobook narrated by Audie and Earphones Award-Winner Piper Goodeve)
From the Reviews
“This expertly plotted middle-grade thriller will enthrall readers… Saller skillfully weaves history and present-day hints to create an irresistible narrative, rich with exciting clues that readers will eagerly devour... This tantalizing tale will engage readers from the first page to the last.”
— Publishers Weekly Booklife (Editor’s Pick) (more)
“A fine mystery with winsome characters and a complicated old house... This is not Saller’s first foray into the mystery genre, which she knows her way around well... The characterization of the fiercely protective Stanton household is appealing... and Saller’s descriptions of their house as a Gothic Victorian treasure of hidden hallways, stairways, cubbyholes, and hidden levers to open hidden doors are wonderful.”
— Kirkus Reviews (more)
“An exciting exploration of history, justice, and the long-lasting impact of the past on the present… Maddie’s Ghost is a beautiful literary experience that effortlessly bridges the gap between multiple generations and timelines… A reminder of how perspective and history can shape our present… Targeted at younger audiences but appeals to all ages.”
— 5 stars, Readers’ Favorite (more)
The Society of Midland Authors 2024 Award for Children's Fiction
For Maddie’s Ghost
From Literary Professionals
“Intricate plotting and convincing characterization. Lainie herself comes to life on the pages, a strong, flawed, believable girl.”
— Paula Morrow, Children’s Book Editor and Librarian
“I would have loved this as a kid. Mystery, ghosts, crushes, secret staircases, believable friendships, and librarians. A page-turner.”
— Louise Brueggemann, Librarian
“A well-written book with a strong storyline. We never lose sight of what Lainie wants and how she goes about getting it. And I love how normal Lainie is.”
— Barbara Gregorich, Author of Guide to Writing the Mystery Novel
August 2023
244 pages | 5 hours, 30 minutes
Age 8–12
Grades 3–6
ISBN 979-8-9862353-8-7 (hardcover)
ISBN 979-8-9862353-4-9 (paperback)
ISBN 979-8-9862353-3-2 (ebook)
ISBN 979-8-9862353-9-4 (audiobook)
LCCN: 2022923425
Contact
Email: [email protected]
Carol Fisher Saller lives in Chicago. Honors for her children’s books include starred reviews, Bank Street Best, Kirkus Best, and NCSS/CBC Notables, the Midland Authors Award for Children’s Fiction, and the Carl Sandburg Award for Children’s Literature.
A professional manuscript editor for many years at the University of Chicago Press, Carol is also author of the book The Subversive Copy Editor and contributing editor to The Chicago Manual of Style.