Ghost in the Night
Tiffany Jackson's tight, atmospheric mystery that doesn't shy from racial trauma or the cost of family secrets; compelling for strong teen readers ready for real stakes.
Read this next
All picks after this →
The Face on the Milk Carton
by Caroline B. Cooney
Young adult · ages 12–16 · 790L · 1991
A genuinely unsettling identity-theft mystery that introduced a generation to the darker side of family loyalty—the prose isn't fancy, but the psychological stakes are real and the cliffhanger ending hits hard.
Dark Water
by Laura McNeal
Young adult · ages 14–18 · 780L · 2011
A genuinely eerie mystery grounded in a teen's quest to understand her adoption and place in the world—sophisticated in structure and tone, with an unsettling atmosphere that builds slowly.
Carpe Corpus
by Rachel Caine
Young adult · ages 14–18 · 780L · 2010
Fast-paced supernatural thriller with genuine stakes and character growth; the romance subplot doesn't overwhelm the survival plot, and Claire's agency drives the action.