Johnny Dixon #1: The Curse of the Blue Figurine by John Bellairs

My name is Johnny Dixon, and I found a blue figurine and a note in the church basement. The story of the pastor's ghost was already on my mind, and I was wondering if I'd unlocked a curse by removing the figurine from the church. The professor assured me nothing was going on, and he apologized for sharing story and said it probably put the magical thoughts in my head. However, the class bully really got on my nerves, and I wished something bad would happen to him. I freaked out when he later broke his arm! I went to church and prayed, but I met a man I'd never seen before. He also assured me nothing magical was going on, and he said I could talk to him again next week. I felt a little better after the visit, but I wondered why I couldn't bring myself to tell anyone about him. 

The plot started off innocently enough, but its intensity grew as the events progressed. For me, the blue figurine didn't play as big of a role in the plot as the ring Johnny received later. It was unclear if anything supernatural was actually going on, but that changed when the mysterious man showed up. There was a strong religious context to the book, as Johnny attended a Catholic school and attended church regularly. The pastor's questionable history was legendary among the people, but no one knew exactly what had happened to him. He was rumored to have been consorting with dark magic when a couple of his critics died under unusual circumstances. Most people believed they were coincidences, but there was still an air of uneasiness. The puzzling facets of the plot created a spooky scenario. Was there a ghost? Was Johnny cursed? How could the questions be resolved if no one even knew what was happening? This book would make a good bridge between innocent ghost stories and those that are more chilling, since that's how the plot was presented in the book. Overall, this was a fun book to read, and I recommend you give it a shot. I'll probably end up reading its sequel, The Mummy, the Will, and the Crypt.