A (DEAD) THING LIKE ME, by E.G. Young, Holiday House, Aug. 18, 2026, Hardcover, $19.99 (young adult, ages 14 and up)
A teenage ghost in love with life becomes bound to the house of a grieving artist in A (Dead) Thing Like Me, by E.G. Young.
One hot dog with banana peppers. That’s all Hot Dog wants. An invisible teenage ghost, she haunts a food cart outside the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Until one night, she’s accidentally summoned via Ouija board to a house party in Florida . . . where finally finally finally, people can see her.
All the party guests scatter, except for Logan: the cool artist girl who doesn’t just see Hot Dog, she actually wants to talk to her. Logan, who isn’t scared of Hot Dog’s stitched mouth or chattering dress. Logan, who’s grieving her own dead BFF—and called Hot Dog by mistake.
Hot Dog wants to prove it’s not a mistake.
She can be Logan’s new best friend. She can go to Logan’s Halloween party. She can eat snacks, have sleepovers, and hang out. She can definitely smile without scaring people. Exactly like a real, human girl.
There’s one problem: Hog Dog’s not a real, living human girl, and something in Logan’s sprawling house knows it. It scratches like rats in the walls. It opens a secret door in Logan’s attic. It wants to drag Hot Dog into the nothingness where dead things go. And unless Hot Dog can confront the dark truth of how she died, it will unmake Logan too.
Gorgeously strange and stunningly written, this YA paranormal masterfully melds camp and creep into a beyond-the-grave coming-of-age. —Synopsis provided by Holiday House
It’s hard to put my feelings about A (Dead) Thing Like Me into words. This quirky paranormal read hits all the notes — creepy, dark, humor, friendship and love.
The story unfolds from Hot Dog’s point of view, as she is pulled from the Met to Florida and is forced to confront the how and why she ended up in this position.
In Hot Dog, author E.G. Young has crafted a haunting and sympathetic character whose journey is fraught with heartache and danger but is made better by the people she’s surrounded by.
Young excels at setting a scene. Her ability to shift atmosphere from dark to light and back to dark in seemingly the blink of an eye is exceptional. And her use of long and short chapters gives you room to breathe along the way.
A (Dead) Thing Like Me isn’t going to be a fit for everyone, but if you like dark, off-center narratives, this one’s for you.
Copyright © 2026 Cracking the Cover. Unless otherwise noted, all books — digital and physical — have been provided by publishers in exchange for honest and unbiased reviews. All thoughts and opinions are those of the reviewer.
