Fans of the tv show School Spirits will enjoy these YA ghost story book recommendations. Perfect for teens who read paranormal fiction and thrillers.
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This post is part of a new series I’m working on with book recommendations for teens. Each week this summer I’ll be sharing lists of 5 YA books for fans of a different tv series. See all my book lists.
Today I’ve got 5 books you might enjoy if you like the tv series School Spirits. There are currently 3 seasons of the show on Paramount+ (and a fourth season planned).
In the tv series, Maddie wakes up as a ghost in her school and can’t remember how she died. She befriends the other ghost students trapped in high school purgatory. As they try to solve the mystery of what happened to Maddie, they discover there are a lot of unusual things going on at Split River High.
Mysterious ghost YA books
I picked these books because they all have ghosts and a murder mystery to solve.
1. Deadstream
- Title: Deadstream
- Author: Mar Romasco-Moore
- Genre: YA thriller
Summary
After surviving a car accident, Teresa spends all her time in her room watching livestreamers. One night, a strange shadow figure appears in her favorite streamer’s feed. After days of strange behavior, he’s found dead. As the shadow monster moves from streamer to streamer, Teresa must overcome her fear if she’s going to survive and save anyone.
Why you’ll like it
If you like School Spirits for the mystery.
This book is creepy from page one and fast-paced thriller. This was marketed as The Ring meets Rear Window, and it’s a good mix of both.
Teresa’s anxiety and grief, the way she feels like her parents don’t understand her, and her desire to simply hide in her room to avoid all her problems all felt realistic. And the realism of the characters made the monsters even scarier.
This story is a fresh creepypasta that reminds readers how big and strange the internet can be. You can be connected to everyone, but still feel alone. And for every person with a million followers, there are many more with almost none. One thing we all have in common is leaving a trail of accounts and profiles across the internet, little pieces of ourselves that we might not even remember are out there.
I received a digital advance reader copy from the publisher, Penguin Group, via NetGalley.
Order this book: Amazon.com | Bookshop.org | Barnes & Noble
2. Cemetery Boys
- Title: Cemetery Boys
- Author: Aiden Thomas
- Genre: YA paranormal fantasy (M/M romance)
This book has a sequel, Espiritu, coming in September 2026.
Summary
Yadriel knows he’s a boy and a brujo, he just has to prove it to his family. The women in his latinx family are healers and the men help ghosts of the recently deceased move on to the afterlife, so he just has to perform a ritual to summon a ghost. When the spell goes wrong, Yadriel accidentally summons his classmate Julian. Julian isn’t sure how he died, and they can’t find his body anywhere. Soon they’re working together to find out what happened, but the closer they get to the answer, the less Yadriel wants Julian to move on.
Why you’ll like it
If you like School Spirits for the ghost lore.
Yadriel gives readers a first-person story about being trans in a culture where gender plays a huge role in everything. His relationship with Julian is sweet, and Julian is supportive from the beginning. You can’t help but hope that somehow everything will work out. Additionally, this is a lovely peek at latinx culture and the rituals around death and Dia de Muertos.
I borrowed the audiobook from my library.
Order this book: Amazon.com | Bookshop.org | Barnes & Noble
3. The Taking of Jake Livingston
- Title: The Taking of Jake Livingston
- Author: Ryan Douglass
- Genre: YA horror (M/M romance)
Quick content warning that the plot of this book revolves around some dark topics.
Summary
Jake Livingston is a medium. Everywhere he goes, he can see ghosts reenacting their final moments in a loop. Until one day, his neighbor – a boy who survived a school shooting – is killed, and all signs point to the ghost of the shooter being responsible. As Jake investigates, he and his friends are pulled into a complex story and the only thing that’s certain is that this ghost wants to posses Jake.
Why you’ll like it
If you like School Spirits because every season has an unexpected plot twist.
The Taking of Jake Livingston is dark. It deals with a lot of real-world issues that teens will find relevant. Jake is Black, lives in an imperfect neighborhood, and goes to a majority-white school where he is bullied. We also get the POV of the shooter via diary entries and his life is also full of hardship and trauma. This is a horror story, no question, but as Jake begins to make friends and develop a crush on a boy, there are bright spots that balance out the darkness.
I purchased the hardcover book from a secondhand bookstore.
Order this book: Amazon.com | Bookshop.org | Barnes & Noble
4. Absent
- Title: Absent
- Author: Katie Williams
- Genre: YA paranormal horror
Summary
Paige wakes up as a ghost trapped in her high school and her memories of dying are fuzzy. She’s trapped in the school where she died, along with fellow ghost students Brooke (who died a few weeks ago) and Evan (who’s been there longer than he wants to admit). When a student starts telling everyone that Paige jumped off the roof, Paige is determined to convince them it’s not true. She quickly discovers she can posses people, but the harder she tries to convince everyone her death was an accident, the less she starts to believe it.
Why you’ll like it
If you like School Spirits for the premise.
This book is quite similar to School Spirits, to the point that I guessed a few plot twists, but that didn’t take away from the fun. Paige, Brooke, and Evan are such sympathetic characters that you can’t help but hope for them to get a happy ending. The supporting cast in this story is really detailed, although it relies heavily on high school stereotypes. At the same time, this story is fast-paced and mysterious. I read it in about 4 hours because I couldn’t put it down.
I borrowed the ebook from my local library. It was published in 2013, so may be harder to find.
Order this book: Amazon.com | Bookshop.org (unavailable) | Barnes & Noble (unavailable)
5. I, in the Shadows
- Title: I, in the Shadows
- Author: Tori Bovalino
- Genre: YA horror
Summary
Drew has always been able to see ghosts, but relied on her sibling to help them move on. When Liam appears, she agrees to help him figure out how he died and he offers to help her with classes and dating. His death seems mysterious but Drew can’t figure out how he died. It all seems to revolve around Liam’s best friend Hannah, who’s quickly become Drew’s crush. Soon lines are blurred and feeling are hurt, but if Liam can’t move on he’ll turn into a husk — or be consumed by a monster even more terrifying.
Why you’ll like it
If you like School Spirits for the way it talks about grief.
Ghost stories are often about being haunted, but this one focuses on grief and loss. Each of the main characters — Drew, Liam, and Hannah — has lost a lot and readers get to see just how that affects each of them. If sometimes shows up as sadness, but also as anger, selfishness, and bad decision-making. Grief also isn’t linear, so these characters have messy arcs that don’t necessarily wrap up with a happy ending where everything if fixed.
I won a hardcover book from the publisher, Page Street YA, in a Goodreads giveaway.
Order this book: Amazon.com | Bookshop.org | Barnes & Noble
What’s next? Try these other fun and creative ideas on One Mama’s Daily Drama:
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