All The Lovely Bad Ones - Good Old Reads

All the Lovely Bad Ones - Houghton Mifflin Harcourt - 2008

Mary Downing Hahn - All The Lovely Bad Ones — Mary Downing Hahn (Photo: Harper Collins)

If you are looking for a book that would be a quick hit and run while providing genuine entertainment, go spend a little time with All The Lovely Bad Ones.

High Point: For a younger person’s book, this is a solid spooky ghost story that even gets a bit edgy at times.

Low Point: Portions of the plot are rather predictable.

Author: Mary Downing Hahn

Publication Date: 2008

Genre: Fiction – Youth

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Among my simple pleasures is occasionally investing a couple hours in chapter books written for younger readers. Although simple, the plots are usually fresh, entertaining, and rather innocent. One of my favorites is Me and Caleb by Franklyn E. Meyer. And now, I’ll be adding to that list Mary Downing Hahn’s All The Lovely Bad Ones.

This is a ghost story about 12-year-old Travis and his younger sister Corey who are spending the summer at their grandmother’s country inn—reputed to be haunted. Along with Grandmother and the guests, we meet the inn’s staff. There’s 16-year-old Tracy for whom Travis quickly develops a crush, and a cantankerous old couple: Mrs. Brewster, the cook, and Mr. Brewster, the inn’s caretaker. Being particularly mischievous, the siblings quickly run afoul of Grandmother and the Brewsters, and then stir up a kind of trouble they hadn’t anticipated.

The story is told in the first person from young Travis’ perspective. The narrative is quick, witty, and when the time is right, Travis’ take on events increases the level of suspense. And despite being a bit predictable at times, Hahn provides some shrewd twists made even more clever when seen through Travis’ eyes.

This is a solid spooky ghost story that even gets a bit edgy at times, especially with the story’s climax. If you are looking for a book that would be a quick hit and run while providing genuine entertainment, go spend a little time with All The Lovely Bad Ones.