Sept MG and third book in trilogy: Ghost Light (The Last Resort #3)

Ghost Light (The Last Resort #3) by Sara Farizan

From the publisher, Scholastic, Published Sept 1, 2026.

The line between the ghost world and our world gets even thinner in this haunting new installment of this multidimensional series where ghosts talk from the pages.

Rosteen is dead. He knows he's dead. And yet... he's still around. He died as a kid in the 1980s, but here he is in the 2020s, brought back to The Last Resort by Lila, Tobias, and Caleb -- who desperately need his help.

The problem? An evil ghost wants to make a comeback and cause a few more disasters that will inevitably cost people their lives. The only way for Rosteen, Lila, Tobias, and Caleb to stop her is to travel to the sites of some of her more infamous disasters in the past and find objects from those times that will somehow defeat her. And to do that, they’ll need to bring back another ghost -- the one that killed Lila and Caleb's grandfather.

Rosteen has nothing left to lose... except his new friends, who could lose everything and become ghosts themselves if they make one wrong move.

If you look at all three covers from this trilogy, you can see them getting spookier. And that goes for the stories as well!

So I realized that I missed writing a review on the second book. I read it and liked it, but I think that was around a very busy/difficult time, and I hadn’t posted for a few months. My apologies to The Claiming (The Last Resort #2) by Jasmine Warga.

This third book, but the third author, brings it all together and brings it home. But not before so many adventures into the otherworld, meeting new ghosts, figuring out how to defeat the evil ghost, the Fire Maiden.

Written from the ghost’s point of view brought a longing and sadness as well as some wisdom. Rosteen was from the 1980’s, so he really was quite old even though he was still a boy. We get to hear his side, his death, and his life. I love the depth and different levels we experience.

A very important aspect is the friendship with the four kids. They really do carry each other and help however they can.

The climax is good, but I think I expected something more. It’s definitely appropriate for middle grade. The characters go through so many perils that it’s probably okay to not be over the top. And the ending did get me. I don’t often cry reading books, but this one did.

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.