Death
In Katherine Paterson’s classic novel Bridge to Terabithia, what tragic event happens to Jess’s best friend, Leslie Burke, while she is trying to cross the creek to their secret magical kingdom alone?
The rope snaps and she drowns in the creek.
In Neil Gaiman's The Graveyard Book, what is the name of the ancient, subterranean entity that guards the oldest grave in the cemetery, located deep inside the hill?
The Sleer
In A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness, a giant, ancient yew tree monster visits 13-year-old Conor O'Malley to help him process the terminal illness and impending death of which family member?
His mother (who is dying of cancer)
In the hit graphic novel Ghosts by Raina Telgemeier, Catrina and her family move to a foggy coastal town named Bahía de la Luna, where the local ghosts gather every year for which traditional Mexican holiday?
Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead)
In J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit, Bilbo Baggins must save his dwarf companions after they are captured and wrapped in webbing by giant spiders in which dark, enchanted forest?
Mirkwood
In the novel The Remarkable Journey of Coyote Sunrise by Dan Gemeinhart, Coyote and her dad travel the country in a school bus to cope with the tragic loss of which family members?
Coyote's mother and two sisters (who died in a car accident).
In Mark Twain's classic The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Tom and Huckleberry Finn sneak into a graveyard at midnight to test a superstition about curing warts. While hiding behind some trees, they witness what major event?
The murder of Dr. Robinson (by Injun Joe)
In The Sea of Monsters by Rick Riordan, Percy Jackson and his friends must sail through the Bermuda Triangle, which is guarded by a giant whirlpool monster named Charybdis and what other six-headed sea monster?
Scylla
In Mary Downing Hahn's classic ghost story Wait Till Helen Comes, 12-year-old Molly must protect her bratty stepsister from Helen, a lonely, malicious ghost child who died in what tragic historical event?
A house fire
In E.B. White's classic novel Charlotte's Web, what is Charlotte's full name, which reflects her scientific species classification as a barn spider?
Charlotte A. Cavatica
What is the name of the Newbery-winning fantasy novel by Neil Gaiman that follows Nobody "Bod" Owens, a young boy who is adopted and raised by ghosts in a cemetery after his birth family is murdered?
The Graveyard Book
In the classic spooky mystery The Dollhouse Murders by Betty Ren Wright, Amy discovers a miniature dollhouse in her aunt's attic that eerily mimics real life. What miniature objects appear on the dollhouse lawn to signify a crime that happened decades ago?
Tombstones / Graves
What is the title of the popular graphic novel by Jennifer L. Holm and Matthew Holm that follows a young girl named Sunny who discovers her younger brother is secretly keeping a slime monster in his room?
Sunny Makes a Splash (or Evil Thing / The Squish series—alternatively, for a definitive middle-grade monster smash hit: The Last Kids on Earth by Max Brallier features a 13-year-old fighting a monster apocalypse)
In The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman, Nobody "Bod" Owens is given a special magical privilege by his ghost adoptive parents that allows him to fade from sight, slide through walls, and see perfectly in the dark. What is this ability called?
The Freedom of the Graveyard
In Roald Dahl's James and the Giant Peach, Miss Spider is a kind-hearted companion who helps James fly across the Atlantic Ocean. What color is she described as being?
Black
What is the title of the Newbery Medal-winning novel by Sharon Creech that follows 13-year-old Sal on a cross-country road trip with her grandparents, where she slowly comes to terms with the reality that her mother passed away?
Walk Two Moons
In Ghost Squad by Claribel A. Ortega, Lucely and her best friend Syd accidentally awaken malicious spirits. To find a way to stop them, they must seek help in what historic St. Augustine location where Lucely's ghost ancestors gather?
The cemetery / graveyard
What is the name of the giant, man-eating, shadow-like monster that hunts demigods in The Lightning Thief, which Percy defeats in the Gateway Arch?
The Chimera
In R.L. Stine's classic Goosebumps book The Ghost Next Door, Hannah Fairchild starts to suspect her new neighbor Danny is a ghost. At the end of the book, what twist does she discover about who is actually dead?
Hannah herself is the ghost (she died in a house fire years prior).
In Louis Sachar's Holes, the inmates at Camp Green Lake are warned about various dangerous desert creatures. Which specific type of arachnid has claws and a stinger that can make a person sick, but won't kill them?
Scorpion (A striped scorpion)
In Ali Benjamin's The Thing About Jellyfish, 12-year-old Suzy Swanson becomes selectively mute to process the sudden drowning of her former best friend, Franny. To cope, Suzy convinces herself that Franny didn't just drown but was actually killed by a sting from what creature?
An Irukandji jellyfish (or jellyfish)
In Mary Downing Hahn's classic ghost story Wait Till Helen Comes, what specific object does the lonely ghost child, Helen, use to lure her living step-sibling, Heather, into a dangerous, historic graveyard?
A sunken grave (belonging to Helen's mother, hidden in the woods)
In Ransom Riggs's Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, what is the name of the terrifying, invisible monsters with tentacle-filled mouths that hunt down peculiar children?
Hollowgasts (or "Hollows")
In The Girl in the Locked Room by Mary Downing Hahn, a ghost girl named Lily has been trapped inside the upper rooms of an old, abandoned home for over a hundred years. What is she waiting for a living girl named Sophia to help her remember so her spirit can finally rest?
How her family's house caught fire (or her own name / the truth of the tragedy that ended her life).
In the dark fantasy novel Coraline by Neil Gaiman, what horrifying physical form does the "Other Mother" (the Beldam) slowly shift into as her true, monstrous nature is revealed to Coraline?
A giant, skeletal spider (with long, needle-thin fingers)