MG Excellent Ghost Story - The Last Resort, by Erin Entrada Kelly

The Last Resort, by Erin Entrada Kelly

From the publisher, Scholastic Press: available September 2, 2025

Twelve-year-old Lila has two goals for the

1. Win back the friends who ditched her for being "too dramatic"

2. Stop being so dramatic

But then Lila's estranged Grandpa Clem dies, throwing a wrench in her plans. Now she'll have to spend the summer in Ohio while her parents decide what to do with Grandpa Clem's creepy Victorian Inn. It's supremely unfair. How can she show off the "new and improved" Lila from so far away?

Even worse, strange things keep happening. En route to Ohio, the family gets into a scary car accident. No one's hurt, but the remainder of the trip is... odd. At every rest stop, Lila sees people in weird old-fashioned clothes. People no one else can see or hear...

Lila convinces herself it's just her overactive imagination until the day of the funeral when she spots an old man sitting in her grandfather's favorite chair. She does a double take -- it's him, Grandpa Clem. He tells Lila that he didn't die of a heart he was murdered. Possibly by someone who wants to control the inn. Because it's not a normal bed & it's a portal between the land of the living and the realm of the dead. A hotel for ghosts passing onto the afterlife.

With the help of her skeptical brother, Caleb, and their new ghost-obsessed neighbor, Teddy, Lila -- the girl who's vowed to be less dramatic -- must uncover her grandfather's killer AND stop the evil spirits desperate to make their way back into the human world.

Enter the world of The Last Resort! Ghosts from the story will emerge from the pages of the book, allowing readers to talk to spirits from the past and help solve the mystery! 

Phenomenal book! Perfectly crafted, excellent characters, the right amount of spookiness, ghosts and mystery. What a feat. I wanted to post this as soon as I read it, but wanted to wait until it was closer to coming out in Sept.

I loved that Lila was overly dramatic with an active imagination – so many of us are that way – and it gives us insight as to how others interpret that. It warmed my heart that Lila was able to meet her grandpa, even if it is as a ghost. Estranged families may not always see how it affects everyone in the family and why things are the way they are. Regret is tough.

Seeing how the ghosts’ stories developed is always fascinating. Lila’s journey to being brave and resourceful is satisfying, too. Love the cover!

Plus, there is a QR code to interact with the ghosts. Book 2 comes out in Spring 2026 by a different author. Is anyone having as much fun as I am? Loving this creativity and great story telling.

Join in the fun and the mystery, you won’t regret it.