A review by booksandbosox
The Hanging Hill by Chris Grabenstein

4.0

I don't know what I can say about this one that I didn't already say about the first book in the series. Grabenstein has created a delightfully spooky and mysterious series for middle-grade readers that I can't devour fast enough. The books are fun and exciting, fast-paced and filled with memorable characters (both physical and spectral). I loved that this one took place in a haunted theater. Perhaps the only thing I didn't love about this one is Zack's dead mother's attempts to make amends with her son. One of my favorite things about the first book was that she was not romanticized like most dead people are. In this one, there is a little more information on her life before she married Zack's father but it still doesn't fully explain how she got to be the villain we heard about in book one. To me, it seemed a bit of a cop-out that she would now be trying to fix after death what she damaged in life, but it didn't detract from the story too much. Overall, another delightful tale from Grabenstein. I can't wait to read more!