ARAMINTA SPOOKIE 2: THE SWORD IN THE GROTTO - Angie Sage

I gotta say, as a grown man I am sort of grooving on Araminta Spookie.  Book two in the successful kids' series by Angie Sage makes me wish Araminta had been around when I was a kid; her adventurous, bossy personality, mixed with that of her mousy but spunky-when-she-needs-to-be best friend Wanda meshes perfectly, and here gets both girls into trouble when Araminta is determined to get Sir Horace - one of two ghosts in the house, the one who inhabits an old suit of armor - a gift for his upcoming 500th birthday.  A chance outing to a mushroom farm, where Araminta and Wanda spot a rusty old sword in a cave that starts Araminta plotting to come back and retrieve it for Sir Horace, gets the girls into all sorts of problems when they find themselves trapped in a dark, dank cave ... slowly filling with water as high tide comes in.  Without putting my finger on it, there is just something charming about the girls, Aunt Tabby, Uncle Drac, and the wacky mansion they all live in, combined with Araminta's thirst for adventure, that make these "kids" books as much fun for adults to read, as well.  Recommended, for either your young ones or the young one in you.  ****