This is a story for young readers who are interested in ghosts. Twelve-year-old Georgia and her little brother Ned are staying on their uncle's farm. In order to escape the bullying of her nasty cousin, Jeff, Georgia takes refuge in a tumbledown old homestead. She meets a strange, old-fashioned girl dressed in white whose name is Lily. Lily likes playing spooky games, and she particularly likes frightening Jeff and Ned. That's not surprising because Lily is really a ghost, a very lonely ghost who wants a friend to play with - forever.

It isn't long before Lily's games involving fire and death become very dangerous and Georgia finds herself fighting for her life.

Haunted is published in the Lightning Strikes series, which focuses on spooky stories.


When I was young I often played in a derelict old homestead located on a farm where I was staying. My friend and I made a den in an upstairs bedroom, and we used to spend hours pretending we were princesses having amazing adventures. There really were holes in the floors and walls of some of the rooms - but we didn't go in those rooms to explore because they smelled horrible.

I always wanted to set a story in that derelict homestead. It was inevitable that I would decide the homestead should be haunted - and Lily was the ghost who came into my mind.


Research to find out what you should do if you're in a house that's on fire.