The Cat Who Hated Halloween

Shadow the cat has three simple rules for surviving Halloween on Willowmere Lane: don't interfere with humans decorating vegetables, avoid the basement oracle, and stay away from anything wearing a cape. By midnight, he'll have broken all three. When jack-o'-lanterns across Willowmere Lane start moving like their carved faces—happy ones hopping, angry ones headbutting, scared ones hiding—Shadow realizes the pumpkins aren't just decorations. They're promises carved into faces. And when those promises break, the entire neighborhood responds. Enter the Pumpkin Protection Patrol: Maya (the planner who just lost her notebook), Riley (who talks to feelings with candles), and Eli (whose pool noodle is surprisingly effective against rolling gourds). Together with Bandit the self-proclaimed Ambassador of Everything and a basement furnace that communicates in cryptic rhymes, they'll navigate sprinkler disasters, runaway skeletons, and one very grumpy neighbor to prevent Halloween from tearing their street apart. But when all the broken promises gather into one enormous King Pumpkin beneath the lane, fixing the problem means descending into a forgotten root cellar—and carving a new face while the ground threatens to swallow them whole.

Magical neighborhoods where mailboxes have opinions and furnaces give (questionable) advice

Mystery-solving kids who use kindness, creativity, and careful observation

Talking animals with distinct personalities and actual character arcs

Halloween stories that balance spooky fun with genuine heart

15 full-page black and white illustrations with dyslexic-friendly formatting