Sweet Miss Honeywell's Revenge: A Ghost Story

Zibby Thorne knows there's something wrong with the shabby dollhouse she bought for her twelfth birthday. She hears strange rustling and ringing noises when there's no one else in the room, and one of the dolls never seems to be in the same place she left it. Most frightening of all, whatever make-believe Zibby plays with the dolls comes true--but in a warped, twisted kind of way.So when her family and friends start having bizarre accidents, Zibby is certain the dollhouse is somehow responsible. Terrified, she tracks down the original owner, and she learns something even more shocking: The dollhouse is haunted--and one of the ghosts who lives in it is a cruel former governess named Miss Honeywell who died eighty years ago.But why is Miss Honeywell still so bent on revenge?

"But you promised." Zibby glared at her mom. "Ten more minutes, Zib. Then we'll go home.""Not home! You said we could go to Sportsmart.""We will, we will. That's what I meant." Nell Thorne was distracted, glancing around the large convention hall at all the booths and displays. "Now wait here like a good, sweet, wonderful girl for just ten more minutes, and then I promise I'll be ready to go." She gave Zibby a bright smile and dived back into the crowds of people.Zibby glowered after her. She gave a swift, backward kick to the wall she was leaning against. Charlotte, at Zibby's side, threw her a scornful glance."You baby," said Charlotte. "Now that you're twelve, do you think maybe you could not have tantrums in public? It's so embarrassing." Charlotte, Zibby's cousin, was twelve, too, but acted like she was about twenty-five."I just want to get my Rollerblades." This was so stupid-having to hang out here while her mom moseyed around looking at dollhouses. "You'd think getting my birthday present would be more important than some dumb doll show.""It's a miniatures convention," Charlotte corrected Zibby. "And it comes only once a year, so give your mom a break. Anyway, I don't think you're having such a bad day just because of some Rollerblades. I bet you're upset about the wedding-and Ned.""That's stupid," Zibby retorted, her voice rising. "And so totally not true." She kicked the wall again, really hard this time, then jumped back when a bell started ringing somewhere nearby. Sort of a clanging handbell. As if her kicking the wall had set off an alarm or something.She closed her eyes to blot out her cousin's disapproving face. She wished she could just blot out this whole day. Charlotte was right about one thing: Zibby was having a really bad day. Today was August 30, her twelfth birthday, the day she had been waiting for all summer-but there were three things wrong, and she couldn't change any of them. She was furious and getting more furious by the minute.First of all, the special plan for this birthday to go camping with Amy, her best friend in the whole world since they were three years old, had fizzled into nothingness with the shocking news that Amy's family was moving away-immediately-because Amy's parents had great new jobs in Cleveland and had to start working as soon as they got there. Which was last week.Second of all, Zibby's mom, Nell, had planned a birthday dinner at Zibby's favorite restaurant-the Fat Lady-for a special treat. Normally, that would be a good thing-and Grammy and Gramps were invited, too, and Aunt Linnea and Uncle David with Zibby's cousins Charlotte and Owen, and of course her mom's fianc, Ned Shimizu. But then Nell had insisted on inviting Ned's two bratty kids, Laura-Jane and Brady. Zibby liked Ned well enough, but his kids were horrible. It was a good thing they would keep living with their mother over in Fennel Grove even after the wedding. The wedding was happening in about two and a half

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Excerpted from Sweet Miss Honeywell's Revenge: A Ghost Story by Kathryn Reiss
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