The Last Resort by Erin Entrada Kelly. 240 p. Scholastic Press/ Scholastic Inc. September 16, 2025. 9781546132431. Review of arc courtesy of the publisher.
Middle Grade Monday features a review of an arc I finally got around to reading, The Last Resort by Erin Entrada Kelly. I'm sorry it took so long.
This was fun, even if horror is my least favorite genre. It's also multi-platform, where readers can scan a QR code and speak to three ghosts from the many haunting the inn where twelve-year-old Lila has to spend part of her summer after her Grandpa Clem dies.
She doesn't want to leave her Arizona home at the start of summer before seventh grade. Her friendship with Lexi and Ava is on the skids and she has to repair it before school starts. To make matters worse, they are driving from Arizona to Ohio because her dad is afraid to fly. Lila has a "near death" experience along the way and when the family arrives at the inn, she discovers she can see ghosts, of which there seems to be many inhabiting the inn, including her grandfather's. She has never met him, but she recognizes him from photos. He claims that he was murdered before flickering out. It's up to Lila and her neighbor Teddy to get to the bottom of this mystery.
This fast-paced tale has plenty of suspense and features a relatable tween dealing with realistic friendship issues along with surprising grief over the grandfather she never met.
The QR code in the arc brought me to the site for the book and a demo. If you click on the link to the image, you can check out the demo. The actual book will feature more. The Last Resort is a series starter and sure to be a hit with your tween lovers of horror. It strikes just the right note of scary.
The second book in the series, The Claiming, was written by Jasmine Warga and was released in late January. I'm ordering it now, because, you know, I don't like horror.
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