SCAREGROUND

A Victorian London girl discovers magic, monsters, and family secrets when she attends a frightful fair.

Though 12-year-old Nancy Crumpet lives a cozy life with her adoptive parents, who are bakers, her orphan status causes other children to ostracize her, and she hides the mysterious silver-colored horse-shaped birthmark on her wrist for fear of being called “a freak.” Her only friends are Arthur Green, a claustrophobic aspiring explorer, and the sky itself, with which Nancy, a self-dubbed Skyreader, can converse. When Skelter Tombola’s Scareground comes to Greenwich, Nancy and Arthur eagerly nab tickets. The Crumpets, however, have forbidden Nancy to attend, but their cryptic, frightened comments about a fairground tragedy and an abandoned carriage from a ghost train only fuel her curiosity. To learn more, she joins Arthur at the Scareground, encountering thrilling rides and illusions and whimsically named workers, including Racer, a nonspeaking boy. But Nancy’s discoveries may destroy her relationships with both Arthur and the Crumpets; a nefarious plan is also brewing. Though experienced genre readers may anticipate many plot elements, Kecojevic’s vivid descriptions will immerse them in the creepy, sinister setting. The author thoughtfully explores trust, loneliness, empathy, and the fine line between excitement and fear. Nancy’s Skyreader abilities go unexplained, but an open ending teases further developments. Nancy clearly regards the Crumpets as family, but the book several times uses the phrase “real parents” to describe her birth parents. Characters read white.

A deliciously atmospheric tale of family and friendship.