Spirit Week

Thirteen-year-old engineer Suzy, portrayed with pale skin and straight blond hair, teams up with brown-skinned, bespectacled documentarian Elijah to save a historic hotel from demolition in this energetic graphic novel mystery by Marcks (Shark Summer). Small Estes Park, Colo., relies on revenue generated by tourists to stay afloat. The Underlook Hotel, which is owned by reclusive horror author Jack Axworth, is the mountain town’s biggest attraction; ghost-hunting tourists and Jack’s avid fans, dubbed “Underlurkers,” flock to Estes Park for a glimpse of the infamous mountaintop hotel. But Jack, who has been diagnosed with early-onset dementia, plans to demolish the property, despite the town’s protests. Joined by Jack’s son, Danny, and Rena, the Underlook’s caretaker, Suzy and Elijah attempt to halt the demolition, and as they dig into the hotel’s history, mysteries surrounding Axworth’s family and the town’s old mining system unfurl. Marcks’s intricately detailed depictions of the Underlook’s architecture, Suzy’s inventions, and surrounding wildlife make for a bustling setting that serves as its own character—though this occasionally comes at the expense of the tweens’ own development. It’s a plot-driven mystery with myriad intertwining threads that features whip-smart, proactive protagonists. Ages 8–12. (Oct.)