Solid scares elevated by psychological richness.
Grieving sisters are hunted by haunted dolls.
Kaye, a sensitive girl from Brooklyn who’s in therapy for arithmomania (a compulsion to count) as well as other anxious symptoms such as intrusive thoughts and catastrophizing, is spending the summer in upstate New York with her family at her recently deceased grandfather’s house. Grief has left her struggling and hardly speaking. At the local Cheese Festival, Kaye and younger sister Holly encounter a strange man who calls himself the Poppet Maker. He engages them with games like cards and a cup and ring, and Holly wins an exquisite doll. The man calls it Holly-doll—and it does look just like Holly, who’s delighted by what the Poppet Maker claims is a coincidence. Kaye feels sure something is wrong. Holly-doll soon guides Holly to unearth an ever-increasing number of creepy dolls that Kaye sees moving on their own—unless it’s her imagination? Unable to turn for help to skeptical adults, like her grieving mom and uncle or her therapist, Dr. Shanti, Kaye confides in her new friend and crush, Joey, a local girl. The dolls’ increasing aggression creates wonderful (and non-gory) scares. Some of the solutions to the mysteries feel a bit spoon-fed (for example, answers revealed through a discovered diary and a villain’s flashback), and other intriguing questions are never answered. But the climax gives young readers a blood-free taste of body horror, and a final stinger keeps the chills alive. The characters largely present white.
Solid scares elevated by psychological richness. (Horror. 8-12)Pub Date: Sept. 30, 2025
ISBN: 9780063355194
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: July 19, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Quirky and imaginative—postmodern storytelling at its best.
Friendly curiosity and a gift for naming earn a polar bear an assortment of (mostly animal) friends, adventures, mishaps, and discoveries.
Arriving at a northern ocean, Duane spies a shipwreck. Swimming out to investigate, he meets its lone occupant, C.C., a learned snowy owl whose noble goal is acquiring knowledge to apply “toward the benefit of all.” Informing Duane that he’s a polar bear, she points out a nearby cave that might suit him—it even has a mattress. Adding furnishings from the wreck—the grandfather clock’s handless, but who needs to tell time when it’s always now?—he meets a self-involved musk ox, entranced by his own reflection, who’s delighted when Duane names him “Handsome.” As he comes to understand, then appreciate their considerable diversity, Duane brings out the best in his new friends. C.C., who has difficulty reading emotions and dislikes being touched, evokes the autism spectrum. Magic, a bouncy, impulsive arctic fox, manifests ADHD. Major Puff, whose proud puffin ancestry involves courageous retreats from danger, finds a perfect companion in Twitch, a risk-aware, common-sensical hare. As illustrated, Sun Girl, a human child, appears vaguely Native, and Squint, a painter, white, but they’re sui generis: The Canadian author avoids referencing human culture. The art conveys warmth in an icy setting; animal characters suggest beloved stuffed toys, gently reinforcing the message that friendship founded on tolerance breeds comfort and safety.
Quirky and imaginative—postmodern storytelling at its best. (Animal fantasy. 8-12)Pub Date: Sept. 10, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-5344-3341-0
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Atheneum
Review Posted Online: May 7, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2019
Telgemeier’s bold colors, superior visual storytelling, and unusual subject matter will keep readers emotionally engaged and...
Catrina narrates the story of her mixed-race (Latino/white) family’s move from Southern California to Bahía de la Luna on the Northern California coast.
Dad has a new job, but it’s little sister Maya’s lungs that motivate the move: she has had cystic fibrosis since birth—a degenerative breathing condition. Despite her health, Maya loves adventure, even if her lungs suffer for it and even when Cat must follow to keep her safe. When Carlos, a tall, brown, and handsome teen Ghost Tour guide introduces the sisters to the Bahía ghosts—most of whom were Spanish-speaking Mexicans when alive—they fascinate Maya and she them, but the terrified Cat wants only to get herself and Maya back to safety. When the ghost adventure leads to Maya’s hospitalization, Cat blames both herself and Carlos, which makes seeing him at school difficult. As Cat awakens to the meaning of Halloween and Day of the Dead in this strange new home, she comes to understand the importance of the ghosts both to herself and to Maya. Telgemeier neatly balances enough issues that a lesser artist would split them into separate stories and delivers as much delight textually as visually. The backmatter includes snippets from Telgemeier’s sketchbook and a photo of her in Día makeup.
Telgemeier’s bold colors, superior visual storytelling, and unusual subject matter will keep readers emotionally engaged and unable to put down this compelling tale. (Graphic fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: Sept. 13, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-545-54061-2
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: July 1, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2016
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