Common Sense Media Review
By Andrea Beach
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Tweens help ghosts move on in spine-tingling series start.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 8+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Read
Parent and Kid Reviews
What's the Story?
THE LAST RESORT tells the story of Lila in the summer between sixth and seventh grades. She plans to spend it patching things up with her friends who, along with her family, are getting fed up with all her drama and her overactive imagination. But that plan gets squashed when she has to go with her family from Arizona to Ohio so her dad can settle the estate of the recently deceased grandfather she never knew. When she gets to Grandpa Clem's creepy old Victorian mansion and inn, she discovers that she can see and talk to ghosts, especially the ghost of Grandpa Clem, who says he was murdered and can't cross over to the afterlife. New friend Teddy is a big believer in all things ghost and along with Lila's younger brother Caleb, they set out to find out what happened to Grandpa Clem. Along the way they'll have to deal with villains, powerful spirits, and a host of other ghosts around town who have unfinished business in this world.
Is It Any Good?
This first in a planned series is just spooky enough, spine-tingling take on familiar ghost stories about spirits with unfinished business in our world. Big kids and tweens who like kid-friendly horror will enjoy the creepy haunted mansion, chilling stories of long-ago violent deaths, and scary mental images conjured by 12-year-old Lila in The Last Resort. They'll also relate to Lila as she struggles to change herself in order to fit in, until she learns that the things she thought were wrong with her can actually be her biggest strengths, and that real friends accept her as she is. The QR codes in the front and back encourage readers to engage in an interactive continuation of the story via smartphone. Kids will be able to "talk" to the ghost characters in real time, so it's a good opportunity to talk about online safety and granting websites access to kids' devices.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about the violence and scariness in The Last Resort. Is it too much? Is it fun to be scared sometimes? When you get really scared, what makes you feel better?
How does Lila's compassion for the ghosts give her the courage she needs to do scary things? How does teamwork help the kids be brave enough to help the ghosts?
Do you believe in ghosts? Why, or why not? Whether you believe in them or not, why are ghost stories so popular? What do we love about them?
Book Details
- Author :
- Illustrator : Naomi Franquiz
- Genre : Horror
- Topics : Family Stories , Fantasy ( Ghosts , Magic ) , Friendship
- Character Strengths : Compassion , Courage , Curiosity , Perseverance , Teamwork
- Book type : Fiction
- Publisher : Scholastic Press
- Publication date : September 2, 2025
- Publisher's recommended age(s) : 8 - 12
- Number of pages : 240
- Available on : Audiobook (unabridged), Hardback, Apple Books, Kindle
- Last updated : September 25, 2025
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