Love Spirit Week? Readers share 100 books like Spirit Week...

By Ira Marcks,

Here are 100 books that Spirit Week fans have personally recommended if you like Spirit Week. Shepherd is a community of 12,000+ authors and super readers sharing their favorite books with the world.

When you buy books, we may earn a commission that helps keep our lights on (or join the rebellion as a member).

Book cover of Hide and Seeker

Fleur Bradley Author Of Daybreak on Raven Island

From my list on scary stories for kids who love Goosebumps.

Why am I passionate about this?

I love scary books for kids, and scary mysteries in particular. Iā€™m a strong advocate for literacy and reaching reluctant readers, and the author of the multi-award-nominated middle-grade mystery Daybreak on Raven Island and Midnight at the Barclay Hotel, among others. The recent resurgence of horror has brought a fresh new bunch of scary stories for kids. And I love reading these books, even though Iā€™m well out of the target age range. These new scary books for kids blend genres, tackle difficult issues, and show kids that even in the darkest, smallest hour of the night, you can solve the problem at hand and come out on the other sideā€”better, stronger, smarter.

Fleur's book list on scary stories for kids who love Goosebumps

Fleur Bradley Why did Fleur love this book?

If you really want to be scared, Hide and Seeker by Daka Hermon is the book for you.

This story takes the hide and seek game and gives it a creepy twist. The book opens when Justin goes to see his friend Zee, who mysteriously disappeared a year earlier and is now back. But nothing is the sameā€¦ Anyone who plays the game disappears, one by one, taken by the mysterious Seeker. This book had me sleeping with the light on.

If you have a kid reader who truly loves to be scared, Hide and Seeker is the perfect book.

By Daka Hermon,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Hide and Seeker as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 8, 9, 10, and 11.

What is this book about?

One of our most iconic childhood games receives a creepy twist as it becomes the gateway to a nightmare world.

I went up the hill, the hill was muddy, stomped my toe and made it bloody, should I wash it?Justin knows that something is wrong with his best friend.Zee went missing for a year. And when he came back, he was . . . different. Nobody knows what happened to him. At Zee's welcome home party, Justin and the neighborhood crew play Hide and Seek. But it goes wrong. Very wrong.One by one, everyone who plays the game disappears, pulledā€¦


Book cover of It Found Us

Fleur Bradley Author Of Daybreak on Raven Island

From my list on scary stories for kids who love Goosebumps.

Why am I passionate about this?

I love scary books for kids, and scary mysteries in particular. Iā€™m a strong advocate for literacy and reaching reluctant readers, and the author of the multi-award-nominated middle-grade mystery Daybreak on Raven Island and Midnight at the Barclay Hotel, among others. The recent resurgence of horror has brought a fresh new bunch of scary stories for kids. And I love reading these books, even though Iā€™m well out of the target age range. These new scary books for kids blend genres, tackle difficult issues, and show kids that even in the darkest, smallest hour of the night, you can solve the problem at hand and come out on the other sideā€”better, stronger, smarter.

Fleur's book list on scary stories for kids who love Goosebumps

Fleur Bradley Why did Fleur love this book?

Whenever someone asks me to recommend a scary book for kids, I instantly think of Lindsay Currieā€™s books. This author knows just how to write a scary story for kids without making it gory.

In It Found Us, twelve-year-old Hazel loves a good mystery, so when she hears that her brother Den plans to go to the cemetery for a game of hide and seek, she tags along. Only the game ends with her brotherā€™s friend Everett missing, and now Den and Hazel try to find him before itā€™s too lateā€¦ I loved Hazel, the girl detective in the book, whose sleuthing takes her to a Chicago cemetery, and exploring history.

Think Scooby Doo meets Goosebumpsā€”your kid will love this scary mystery and will want to check out all of Lindsay Currieā€™s books.

By Lindsay Currie,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked It Found Us as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 8, 9, 10, and 11.

What is this book about?

From the author of Scritch Scratch and The Girl in White comes a new spooky mystery about a girl detective who must decode a series of ominous clues tied to a century-old tragedy to find a missing teenager before it's too lateā€¦

Twelve-year-old Hazel Woods has always had an unusual knack for sleuthing. Some may call it snooping, but all she really wants is to solve mysteries around town. So, when she not-so-accidentally overhears her brother Den planning to sneak into the cemetery at night for an epic game of hide-and-seek, she decides to secretly tag along. This seems likeā€¦


Book cover of More Tales to Keep You Up at Night

Fleur Bradley Author Of Daybreak on Raven Island

From my list on scary stories for kids who love Goosebumps.

Why am I passionate about this?

I love scary books for kids, and scary mysteries in particular. Iā€™m a strong advocate for literacy and reaching reluctant readers, and the author of the multi-award-nominated middle-grade mystery Daybreak on Raven Island and Midnight at the Barclay Hotel, among others. The recent resurgence of horror has brought a fresh new bunch of scary stories for kids. And I love reading these books, even though Iā€™m well out of the target age range. These new scary books for kids blend genres, tackle difficult issues, and show kids that even in the darkest, smallest hour of the night, you can solve the problem at hand and come out on the other sideā€”better, stronger, smarter.

Fleur's book list on scary stories for kids who love Goosebumps

Fleur Bradley Why did Fleur love this book?

I love a good short story, especially when itā€™s written for kids.

In More Tales to Keep You Up at Night, main character Gilbert finds audio tapes after his brother is injured in a mysterious accident, and starts to listen to them. Gilbert soon figures out that the stories are connected to his family, and that heā€™ll have to listen to all of them to save his brotherā€¦

Perfect for readers of Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark. And as you probably can tell from the title, there is a first book by the same author. Dan Poblocki is one of those authors who just know how to tell a scary story for the middle-grade audience.

By Dan Poblocki, Marie Bergeron (illustrator),

Why should I read it?

1 author picked More Tales to Keep You Up at Night as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 10, 11, 12, and 13.

What is this book about?

From the co-author of the #1 New York Times bestselling series The Magic Misfits comes a spectacularly creepy follow-up to Tales to Keep You Up at Night that will keep you up way past bedtime.

Perfect for fans of Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark!

Gilbert is visiting his injured brother, Ant, in the hospital, when he sees a shadowed figure leave behind a satchel filled with old cassette tapes. Despite a strange, garbled voicemail telling him "Don't listen to the tapes," Gilbert can't resist playing them and listening to the chilling stories they reveal: tales of cursed seashells,ā€¦


If you love Spirit Week...

Ad

Book cover of One Giant Leap

One Giant Leap by Ben Gartner,

Editor's Pick, BookLife by Publishers Weekly.

Gold Medal, 2023 Mom's Choice Awards.

Gold Medal, 2023 Readers' Favorite Awards.

First Place, 2023 Gertrude Warner Middle Grade Awards.

Iā€™m pretty sure Iā€™m about to die in space. And I just turned twelve and a half.

Blast off with the four winners ofā€¦

Book cover of The Ghosts of Rancho Espanto

Fleur Bradley Author Of Daybreak on Raven Island

From my list on scary stories for kids who love Goosebumps.

Why am I passionate about this?

I love scary books for kids, and scary mysteries in particular. Iā€™m a strong advocate for literacy and reaching reluctant readers, and the author of the multi-award-nominated middle-grade mystery Daybreak on Raven Island and Midnight at the Barclay Hotel, among others. The recent resurgence of horror has brought a fresh new bunch of scary stories for kids. And I love reading these books, even though Iā€™m well out of the target age range. These new scary books for kids blend genres, tackle difficult issues, and show kids that even in the darkest, smallest hour of the night, you can solve the problem at hand and come out on the other sideā€”better, stronger, smarter.

Fleur's book list on scary stories for kids who love Goosebumps

Fleur Bradley Why did Fleur love this book?

This book starts with a prank gone wrong, when Rafa and his friend steal the school slushy machine and get busted. As punishment, Rafa is sent to Ranch Espanto in New Mexico for the summer.

Rafa makes a friend in Jennie, but his work at the ranch keeps being sabotagedā€¦ He has to solve the (supernatural) mystery of the ranch, and in the end the book has a cool plot twist to satisfy mystery readers like myself. Aside from the strong plot, this book also covers tougher topics affecting these kids, giving it depth and heart.

I loved the New Mexico feel of the book, and appreciated how there was a mystery as well as supernatural (and magical realism) elements. The Ghosts of Rancho Espanto is the perfect book for kids who like a blend of genres, not simply another ghost story.

By Adrianna Cuevas,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Ghosts of Rancho Espanto as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 8, 9, 10, and 11.

What is this book about?

Sometimes parents are creative when they punish you. But not Rafael's dad. He doesn't bother with a traditional punishment when he finds out Rafael and his friends tried to steal a slushie machine from the school cafeteria. He skips right over creative, too. He blasts all the way to completely unhinged and bonkers.

That's how Rafael ends up on a ranch in Middle of Nowhere, New Mexico, thousands of miles from home in Miami. He's content to keep his head down and do as he's told, but his work is inexplicably sabotaged by a strangely familiar man, one with theā€¦


Book cover of Audition

Angelo Marcos Author Of The Artist

From my list on crime with killer twists.

Why am I passionate about this?

I hold degrees in law and psychology, and have a keen interest in behavioural science and forensic psychology. As a thriller writer and a reader, I love exploring the darker side of the human mind. I have always been more interested in why somebody commits a crime than in how they got caught. What causes the average person to commit a horrific crime? Do 'average' people even exist? Are some people just wired a certain way and can't help what they do? These are the questions I like to explore in the books I read as well as the ones I write.

Angelo's book list on crime with killer twists

Angelo Marcos Why did Angelo love this book?

This book terrified me, mainly because I happened to read it just after getting out of a long-term relationship. The premise itself is pretty perverse, or maybe sad depending on your viewpoint ā€“ a widow who hasnā€™t moved on since the death of his wife holds auditions for a fake movie so that he can find his perfect mate. As youā€™ll see in my own novel, auditions can often be the perfect cover for something more sinister. In this case though, itā€™s the auditionee who gets the upper hand. Very creepy and with a great twist, Audition is definitely one to read.

By Ryu Murakami, Ralph McCarthy (translator),

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Audition as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

In this gloriously over-the-top tale, Aoyama, a widower who has lived alone with his son ever since his wife died seven years before, finally decides it is time to remarry. Since Aoyama is a bit rusty when it comes to dating, a filmmaker friend proposes that, in order to attract the perfect wife, they do a casting call for a movie they don't intend to produce. As the resumes pile up, only one of the applicants catches Aoyama's attention-Yamasaki Asami-a striking young former ballerina with a mysterious past. Blinded by his instant and total infatuation, Aoyama is too late inā€¦


Book cover of Steven Spielberg: A Biography

Nathan Abrams Author Of Kubrick: An Odyssey

From my list on fiction and nonfiction books about movie directors.

Why am I passionate about this?

I was old (or young) enough to have only seen two Kubrick films in the cinema: Full Metal Jacket and Eyes Wide Shut. I began teaching film studies and Hollywood in 1998, and I have been teaching and researching Kubrick intensively since 2007, visiting his archive in London on numerous occasions. At one point, I held the record for the researcher who had spent the most hours in the Archive. I also met Christiane and Jan and spoke to many others who knew and worked with Kubrick. Having been familiar with Robert Kolkerā€™s work, it became clear that collaborating with an international authority on film was a necessity as well as a pleasure.

Nathan's book list on fiction and nonfiction books about movie directors

Nathan Abrams Why did Nathan love this book?

This is probably the most comprehensive biography of Steven Spielberg ever written.

It is detailed, in-depth, and readable, based on a variety of sources. I found it very useful for our biography of Kubrick not only as a model but also as a source of information, given that the two directors were friends.

It is so good that it is rumored that it influenced the director to make his semi-autobiographical film The Fabelmans in 2022. 

By Joseph McBride,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Steven Spielberg as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Until the first edition of Steven Spielberg: A Biography was published in 1997, much about Spielberg's personality and the forces that shaped it had remained enigmatic, in large part because of his tendency to obscure and mythologize his own past. But in this first full-scale, in-depth biography of Spielberg, Joseph McBride reveals hidden dimensions of the filmmaker's personality and shows how deeply personal even his most commercial work has been.This new edition adds four chapters to Spielberg's life story, chronicling his extraordinarily active and creative period from 1997 to the present, a period in which he has balanced his executiveā€¦


If you love Ira Marcks...

Ad

Book cover of One Giant Leap

One Giant Leap by Ben Gartner,

Iā€™m pretty sure Iā€™m about to die in space. And I just turned twelve and a half.

Blast off with the four winners of the StellarKid Project on a trip to the International Space Station and then to the Gateway outpost orbiting the Moon! Itā€™s a dream come true untilā€¦

Book cover of The Dance of Reality: A Psychomagical Autobiography

Mike Russell Author Of Nothing Is Strange

From my list on surreal, magical, and mind-expanding stories.

Why am I passionate about this?

Hello. My name is Mike Russell. I write books (novels, short story collections and novellas) and make visual art (mostly paintings, occasionally sculptures). I love art and books that are surreal and magical because that is the way life seems to me, and I love art and books that are mind-expanding because we need to expand our minds to perceive just how surreal and magical life is. My books have been described as strange fiction, weird fiction, surrealism, magic realism, fantasy fictionā€¦ but I just like to call them Strange Books.

Mike's book list on surreal, magical, and mind-expanding stories

Mike Russell Why did Mike love this book?

Discovering the art of Alejandro Jodorowsky helped me to remove limitations from my own art. It was a joy to discover his work and it was a further joy to discover that his life has been just as uncompromising, surreal, and magical as his art. He has hung out with circus people, shamans, great artists (Marcel Marceau, Leonora Carrington, Jean Giraudā€¦ the list goes on). His novels, autobiographies, comic books, movies, and pictures are all fantastic. 

By Alexandro Jodorowsky,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Dance of Reality as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Not a traditional autobiography composed of a chronological recounting of memories, Dance of Realityrepaints events from Jodorowsky's life from the perspective of an unleashed imagination. Like the psychomagic and metagenealogy therapies he created, this autobiography exposes the mythic models and family templates upon which the events of everyday life are founded. It reveals the development of Jodorowsky's realization that all problems are rooted in the family tree and explains, through vivid examples from his own life, particularly interactions with his father and mother, how the individual's road to true fulfilment means casting off the phantoms projected by parents on theirā€¦


Book cover of Stanley Kubrick: American Filmmaker

Robert P. Kolker Author Of Kubrick: An Odyssey

From my list on books about Stanley Kubrick.

Why am I passionate about this?

Kubrick has fascinated me since I watched Paths of Glory at MoMA, one of Stanleyā€™s old haunts, in the early 1960s. I first saw 2001 in London and then once a year after that back home in New York. I taught courses devoted to Kubrick, and when I taught the course online at the University of Virginia, welcomed his brother-in-law, Jan Harlan, to talk to us long distance. With each move, I drew closer and closer to our subject. I visited the Manor at Childwickbury and had lunch with Kubrickā€™s wife, Christiane. I studied documents in the Kubrick Archive in London. There became a point of recognizing myself in Kubrick himself and his films. A biography was inevitable. 

Robert's book list on books about Stanley Kubrick

Robert P. Kolker Why did Robert love this book?

Until David wrote his book, there hadnā€™t been a biography of Kubrick in over twenty years. While his book is short, it is very readable, and I found it the most intriguing of the short biographies.

Mikics conducted new interviews and visited Kubrickā€™s archive in London. His readings of Kubrickā€™s films are precise and elegant.

By David Mikics,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Stanley Kubrick as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

An engrossing biography of one of the most influential filmmakers in cinematic history

"A cool, cerebral book about a cool, cerebral talent. . . . A brisk study of [Kubrick's] films, with enough of the life tucked in to add context as well as brightness and bite."-Dwight Garner, New York Times

"An engaging and well-researched primer to the work of a cinematic legend."-Library Journal

Kubrick grew up in the Bronx, a doctor's son. From a young age he was consumed by photography, chess, and, above all else, movies. He was a self-taught filmmaker and self-proclaimed outsider, and his films existā€¦


Book cover of You'll Never Eat Lunch in This Town Again

Maureen Callahan Author Of American Predator: The Hunt for the Most Meticulous Serial Killer of the 21st Century

From my list on American pop culture.

Why am I passionate about this?

Maureen Callahan is a New York Times bestselling author, award-winning investigative journalist, columnist, and commentator. She has covered everything from pop culture to politics. Her writing has appeared in Vanity Fair, New York, Spin, and the New York Post, where she is Critic-at-Large. She lives in New York. For Shepherd, Callahan has selected her favorite books about American pop culture, which is currently dominated by her favorite subgenre, true crime.

Maureen's book list on American pop culture

Maureen Callahan Why did Maureen love this book?

The New York Times called this memoir ā€œThe Hollywood Chainsaw Massacre!ā€ and it still stands as one of the best. Phillips, who died New Yearā€™s Day 2002, was a self-described ā€œnice Jewish girl from Great Neck,ā€ Long Island who loved the movies, movie stars ā€” and books. She was sharp, unsparing, and became the first female producer to win an Oscar for Best Picture. The closest comp title, I think, is The Kid Stays In The Picture by the late Robert Evans, but Phillips does him better in eviscerating no one so much as herself. And this is someone who describes Rolling Stone Ronnie Wood as ā€œvery sweet, but . . . smells terrible,ā€ before asking, ā€œWhy donā€™t the English like to bathe?ā€ An observation that could get one canceled today.

By Julia Phillips,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked You'll Never Eat Lunch in This Town Again as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

ā€œThe Hollywood memoir that tells all . . . Sex. Drugs. Greed. Why, it sounds just like a movie.ā€ā€”The New York Times
 
Every memoir claims to bare it all, but Julia Phillipsā€™s actually does. This is an addictive, gloves-off exposĆ© from the producer of the classic films The Sting, Taxi Driver, and Close Encounters of the Third Kindā€”and the first woman ever to win an Academy Award for Best Pictureā€”who made her name in Hollywood during the halcyon seventies and the yuppie-infested eighties and lived to tell the tale. Wickedly funny and surprisingly moving, Youā€™ll Never Eat Lunch in Thisā€¦


If you love Spirit Week...

Ad

Book cover of Trapped in the Horror Dome

Trapped in the Horror Dome by Matt McMann,

This series of terrifying standalone tales that combine monsters + mysteries is perfect for fans of Goosebumps.

ā€œSpine-chilling and creepy!ā€ ā€”Max Brallier, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Last Kids on Earth, on Escape From Grimstone Manor (Monsterious, Book 1). 

When their school wins a state scienceā€¦

Book cover of Fellini

Yehuda Moraly Author Of Dream Projects in Theatre, Novels and Films

From my list on dream projects in theater and film.

Why am I passionate about this?

I became fascinated by dream projects after a series of remarkable discoveries throughout my career. In 1970, I found Genet's manuscripts for his unfinished work La Mort, which proved crucial to understanding his entire artistic vision. Later, I came across Claudel's incomplete On rĆ©pĆØte TĆŖte d'Or, which illuminated his lifelong struggle with the relationship between Judaism and Christianity. When I was given early access to Fellini's unfilmed Mastorna screenplay, I saw the same pattern emerging. These encounters led me to a profound realization: often, an artist's unfinished workā€”the project they struggle with but never completeā€”holds the key to understanding their entire creative output. This insight has guided my research ever since.

Yehuda's book list on dream projects in theater and film

Yehuda Moraly Why did Yehuda love this book?

I found Hollis Alpert's book refreshing because it cuts through all the myths about Fellini and shows us the real person. After watching Fellini's films for years, I was glad to finally read a biography that explains how he developed his unique style.

The book helped me understand his evolution from cartoonist to filmmaker and showed me how his early experiences influenced his later work. While other biographers sometimes get caught up in Fellini's larger-than-life personality, Alpert stays focused on helping us understand the director's creative process. This is a straightforward, honest look at one of cinema's most interesting figures.

By Hollis Alpert,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Fellini as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

This biography, drawing on interviews with the filmmaker and his colleagues, investigates the man and the legend and defines the elusive boundaries between the two


Book cover of Hide and Seeker
Book cover of It Found Us
Book cover of More Tales to Keep You Up at Night

Share your top 3 reads of 2024!

And get a beautiful page showing off your 3 favorite reads.

2,007

readers submitted
so far, will you?

5 book lists we think you will like!

Interested in making movies, secrets, and Colorado?

Making Movies 44 books
Secrets 279 books
Colorado 83 books