Turns out middle schoolers and interior designers have the same nightmare: bad wallpaper.
Not Quite a Ghost is a 2024 book by author Anne Ursu. It was published by Walden Pond Press and is a Minnesota Book Award nominee in the category of middle-grade literature.
The story focuses on Violet, a sixth grader moving into a new house with her mixed family. Violet is placed in a creepy attic bedroom with strange and mysterious wallpaper and, overtime, she begins to suspect she may not be alone in the room.
There has been an increase in middle-grade horror coming out in recent years. For Ursu, there is a likely reason for that: COVID-19.
"I think that we've seen, sort of a resurgence of middle grade horror this year, and I can't help but think that it's the result of people being, kind of locked in their houses and staring at their four walls and looking for inspiration there."
The inspiration for this book came from an 1892 novella by Charlotte Perkins Gilman called The Yellow Wallpaper. Both books have similar themes of being trapped in your room and staring at strange wallpaper.
Not Quite a Ghost can be purchased at your local bookstore and online at bookshop.org.
Minnesota Reads is produced at The North 103.3 with funding provided in part by the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund.
