Welcome to Litsy!

It seems almost cruel to tag this very hard-to-find book, but it has such a poignant little ghost in it.

I loved this book growing up, and it definitely encouraged my ongoing love affair with alleys 😂 I hadn't read this one in several years, and it was super fun to revisit. Cleery buys a box of magic at a flea market, and accidentally magics a stuffed crow into being alive - and able to talk - but not able to fly. With an enchantment of being able to find something magical in every new alley she visits that summer, she and her best friend set off ⬇

One of my most obscure old favorites, because it never made it into paperback. (The library journal reviews weren't great, which makes me long for magic so I could go back in time and smack some heads.) It includes a series of many different kinds of magical adventures -- mermaids, pixies, witches -- but the chapter featuring a lonely ghost girl is truly... haunting.

Thanks to @willaful for posting about this one. It‘s out of print (and used copies will run you about a hundred bucks,) but a digitized copy is available to borrow on Open Library.
It‘s a delightful book, and should not be lost to the whims of waning popularity and the ravages of time on physical objects.