Olive Oakes and the Haunted Carousel by Kalynn Bayron

Olive loves nothing better than a good mystery, especially if she is the one that solves it! With her notebook always at hand, she writes down everything she observes and puts the pieces together with the help of her younger cousin. And of course they get in trouble!


Author Kalynn Bayron weaves a complex ghost story full of intriguing characters with ominous backstories. Clues can be as subtle as an eyebrow movement to a breathtaking fall through a mysterious door.
The only thing that sparked a little disappointment was that I wished the parents were a bit more fleshed out. They felt a bit two-dimensional to me. If parents are going to be part of the story, I want to know more about them than how they do their jobs. However, as this is slated to be a series, I’m sure more will be revealed in upcoming books.

Book cover for Olive Oakes and the Haunted Carousel. A young girl with brown skin and black hair pulled into 2 puffy pigtails smiles with a notebook under one arm and a pen in the other hand. A younger boy with light brown skin, red hair and glasses smiles next to her. A carousel is lit up behind them.