I read this because I enjoyed the Egypt Game. I've been trying to read more children's literature so I can make better recommendations to our students. This one had me laughing out loud at times and also in such suspense that I had to keep turning the pages to see what really was happening. It definitely creeped me out a little. I'm pleased to see there are more books in this series - will definitely read them as I love the characters - especially the three youngest ones along for the ride.

I really enjoyed this book again. I hadn't read it since childhood. I do enjoy Z. Keatley Snyder a lot. The Egypt Game is another favorite by her. I know that there is another book with the same family that is set in Italy I think. I'm going to check that one out.

My favorite book as a child. I read it again every few years and recommend to my friends with children.

Newbery Challenge 174/415. 3.5 stars, which translates to “pretty good”. This is a spooky middle grades book done well. One of the kids, Amanda, is a witchcraft, supernatural enthusiast. Her motivation is to annoy her mother and get attention...honestly, she’s a brat. But she has a good character arc in the story. There is a ghost story element that will leave the reader with a shiver at the end. A “pretty good” ghost story for middle schoolers.

I LOVED THIS BOOK SO MUCH AS A KIDDO

5/13/20 age 9 - The story is about a boy whose name is David and he wants to solve a mystery with the headless cupid. I loved it! I liked the part when the found the cupids head. I did not like when David was mean to Janie, his little sister. Words that describe this book: exciting, funny, surprising, scary, entertaining. It was sad when those loud thuds spilt milk, and killed a plant. I would recommend this book to people who like mystery.

David's new step-sister is quite a treat. She works so hard at hating everyone. I loved when the tables turned. The supernatural elements are softly hinted at. I would have preferred this story to have been either a flat-out mystery with logical conclusions, or to have more spine-chilling supernatural events. The dynamics of the kids' characters pulls the story along and makes for a very enjoyable read.

One of my favorite books when I was younger, any fan of ghost stories or paranormal mysteries should really enjoy this.

David Stanley tries his hardest to play the ultimate big brother to his three very different young siblings. With their mother dead, and their father often away working and preparing for remarriage, he is the one they look up to. But David is about to have problems of his own, arriving in the form of his new stepsister, Amanda. And Amanda brings more than the usual problems. She is a self-styled practicer of the occult, and she brings with her a grumpy crow familiar, books of spells, and somewhat of an attitude.

Before long, David's three irrepressible siblings; mischievous know-it-all Janie, innocent Esther, and quiet, mysterious Blair, have convinced Amanda to give them a chance to get in on her world, despite her reluctance. David is pulled along too, fascinated in spite of himself by Amanda's interests. But when strange things begin to happen in David's old house, the four Stanley siblings, plus Amanda, may find themselves with a true ghost on their hands. And maybe none of them will be prepared to deal with it.

Sprinkled with hilarity and fun that take the worst of the creepiness out of this spooky novel (the siblings' attempts to pass Amanda's rites, as well as "capture" lizard familiars and hold a seance, have lots of funny moments), this is a perfect introduction to anyone who wants to try a ghost story. Under that, it's also the story of a family learning about each other. But the ending, which has a not-necessarily surprising twist, has a double twist that leaves everything up in the air...a perfect ending for a study of the paranormal.

Super fun! Thrilling and supernatural, but is it? But it is? Whom is responsible? Oh my! My family loved this read aloud. We all agreed it was 5 stars. Well-written.

I read many Zilpha Keatley Snyder stories in my youth. The Greensky books were life-changing for me, but I also really loved The Changeling. I never did read The Headless Cupid, however—until now.

The pacing is very leisurely. We meet good-hearted David and his three younger siblings, who are all distinct, charming personalities. We learn that David’s mother died some time ago, that his dad remarried and now they’ve moved to a huge old house out in the country, and that his stepmother’s daughter Amanda is coming to live with them.

She arrives, and she’s an angry mess, but David and younger kids don’t really care, because she’s into the supernatural, has a pet crow, and is training to be a witch, and they’re intrigued. She’s high handed and obnoxious with them, and it just kind of rolls right off them. She tries to lord it over them, and they … just enjoy it.

I don’t know how I would have felt about Amanda if I had been reading the story as a kid. As an adult, I didn’t like her very much. I was offended on behalf of David and the others, and as a parent, I could only think what a trial she’d be.

But she *is* imaginative (even if her first game with the others, slaves and slave driver, just would NOT fly in the present world). And you end up feeling a little sorry for her—though she’d hate that--because she’s always being shown up in small ways by the others (they get along better with her pets than she does, they know more about reptiles and herbs than she does). Furthermore David and his siblings have each other, and David has a good relationship with both his own father and Amanda’s mother. Given those facts, it’s pretty amazing that Amanda is as friendly as she is, and I guess we can intuit from that how much she craves exactly what the other four are offering, even if she can’t admit that fact to herself. And ZKS manages to convey all that without being heavy-handed. It’s all there, but lightly.

I did kind of want more actual supernatural stuff. There was a lot of “is it or isn’t it?” much of which gets placed firmly in the “it isn’t” category, but there was some stuff that remained ambiguous, and I wanted more of that. David’s little brother Jamie has a kind of Charles Wallace vibe going on, and I wanted to see him do more communing with crows—or ghosts.

But for all that, it was a satisfying story—perceptive about human nature, and engaging in its small details.

Even though I discovered Zilpha Keatley Snyder through the Egypt Game and The Famous Stanley Kidnapping Disaster, this might be one of my favorites. It's so hard to pick with Snyder. This one or A Fabulous Creature. I can't tell you how many times I've read each of her books. This is definitely the best Stanley book, though reading it as an adult has been interesting. For instance, David is a super mature eleven year old. I definitely didn't catch that when I was younger. I also forgot how genuinely *funny* this book is. Even as an adult I was laughing out loud.
Definitely recommended.

Found this when I was looking for a book for Miles - I loved this book when I was a kid. Guess what, I still like it! Good writing, good messages, and a poltergeist storyline to hold interest.