Ambitious but overstuffed.
A boy and his dead dog navigate the difficult world of seventh grade.
In this graphic follow-up to The Deadening (2020), Derrick Hollis and his ghostly canine’s co-created Dead Max comics are a hit, and he’s been asked to pen an advice column for the school paper. He has also formed a band with best friend Doug and is looking forward to competing in a Battle of the Bands that he has also planned as a pet-adoption event. Derrick is also trying to negotiate a budding relationship with his crush, Kim. Sullivan’s sophomore effort is busy, both plotwise with its many disparate narrative threads and visually with his crowded, border-busting full-color panels. The art packs a confetti-colored punch into each panel, and while his characters encompass a spectrum of skin tones and heights and include characters with visible disabilities, his female characters are all similarly and unbelievably wasp-waisted and thin. For such a slender volume, it contains too many goings-on for any arc to be fully explored or resolved. For example, Derrick’s mother has a problem with alcohol (a seemingly important detail) that was introduced in the previous volume, but it hardly gets more than a sentence in this offering, and when he answers his peers’ queries in his column, he brushes their serious problems aside. Derrick and Doug are white; Kim and her best friend, Keisha, have brown skin.
Ambitious but overstuffed. (Graphic fantasy. 8-12)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-63440-858-5
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Red Chair Press
Review Posted Online: June 15, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A satisfying balance of compelling characterization and creepiness.
In this follow-up to Identikill (2025), two girls stuck between life and death find themselves searching for answers.
Although Chelsea’s twin sister, Angelica, died years ago, the two remained close. Angelica’s ghost was a constant presence until recently, when Chelsea made a new friend named Janette, and Angelica’s jealousy spilled over. Now that Angelica has taken possession of Chelsea’s body, Chelsea is the one trapped in the Underside, the dark, dank world where Angelica was relegated anytime Chelsea paid attention to other people. Chelsea isn’t alone, though; the twins’ former friend Riley is there with her, though the reasons for her presence are unclear. As Angelica wreaks havoc on Chelsea’s life, teaming up with bully Pia and trashing her friendship with Janette, Chelsea struggles to let Janette know what’s going on; meanwhile, Riley tries to identify the imposter living in her own body before things get worse. Told from both Angelica’s and Chelsea’s third-person perspectives, the novel contains enough moving pieces for an engaging and suitably complex yet swiftly paced plot, with plenty of character development worked in. With explorations of friendship taking center stage, Alexander makes space for his protagonists to contend with ugly feelings like jealousy, bitterness, and rage. The story can be read as a stand-alone (a quick recap of the previous book’s events will catch readers up), though familiarity with the earlier installment is recommended for full effect. Physical descriptions are minimal.
A satisfying balance of compelling characterization and creepiness. (Horror. 8-12)Pub Date: Jan. 6, 2026
ISBN: 9781546116516
Page Count: 160
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Oct. 10, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2025
This creepy, quirky debut trilogy opener—think H.P. Lovecraft crossed with John Bellairs—is dank, misty fun.
Not your average coastal getaway, Eerie-on-Sea is brimming with secrets, including its own monster.
In the dismal offseason, young Herbie Lemon, the Grand Nautilus Hotel’s cautious (he’s heard the legends) Lost-and-Founder, is on the job, keeping warm, when Violet Parma, abandoned at the hotel as an infant 12 years ago, arrives, searching for her lost parents and fleeing pursuit. Fearless and determined, she recruits Herbie into her schemes. He knows she isn’t telling him her whole story—but then, he isn’t telling her (or readers) his, either. When a clue leads them to the Eerie Book Dispensary, a mechanical mermonkey steers Violet to a book about the malamander, an aquatic monster that lays a magical egg at Midwinter, then takes it back. Other egg seekers include a local author; the imperious hotel owner, whose grandfather once possessed it; the ghostly Boat Hook Man; and Violet’s parents. (Her father, the only character identified by race, is black; whether the white default that seems to apply to the rest of the book applies also to Violet is unclear.) While present-tense narration frequently has a bland effect on fantasy, flattening time and the contours of history, here lively characters, droll humor, and steampunk-tinged worldbuilding counter the effect. The limited art available for review amplifies the spookiness. The deeply atmospheric setting is a standout.
This creepy, quirky debut trilogy opener—think H.P. Lovecraft crossed with John Bellairs—is dank, misty fun. (Fantasy. 8-12)Pub Date: Sept. 10, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-5362-0722-4
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Walker US/Candlewick
Review Posted Online: May 26, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2019
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