Author
Zilpha Keatley Snyder
3 books here
The Headless Cupid
Middle grade · ages 8–12 · 750L
A genuinely spooky mystery that sneaks in serious work on empathy—Amanda feels like a real, prickly person, not a lesson, and the house itself becomes a character.
The Witches of Worm
Middle grade · ages 8–12 · 760L · 1972
A 1970s classic that still lands: ambiguous, unsettling, and structurally daring—it trusts kids to sit with uncertainty and doesn't resolve what actually happened, which feels rare and bracing.
The Egypt Game
Middle grade · ages 8–12 · 740L · 2007
A quietly brilliant friendship epic that rewards rereading—the mystery unfolds organically through play, and the prose trusts kids to hold complexity (multiple POV, time shifts, moral ambiguity about the old man).