Wonderfully weird.
Monsters and humans find common ground in order to save their friends from dark forces on a magical island.
Born in a snowstorm in California on the same day his father tragically died, 11-year-old Otto Normal leads a life that’s always seemed destined to be anything but normal. Otto and his mom, Cherry, were just scraping by until a mysterious man came to the diner where Cherry was a waitress, offering her a job as a newspaper reporter on the island of Monsterton. Much to Otto’s shock, she accepted, and the two packed up their meager belongings and set sail from the Oregon coast. But upon their arrival, Otto and Cherry quickly realize that they’re outsiders in Monsterton: They seem to be the only humans and are surrounded by vampires, zombies, ghosts, and other creatures. Otto, who never had any human friends, goes to school determined to fit in. A trip to detention leads to an invitation to join a motley crew of classmates on an adventure to find the possibly mythical White Pine Beach, which jumps around within the foreboding Belcarra forest. The story unfolds through multiple viewpoints, and readers may become overwhelmed by the complicated worldbuilding and by plot intricacies that aren’t always sufficiently explained. But the rich illustrations amp up the delightful eeriness with deeply saturated colors and a playfully rendered cast of ragtag characters who will leave readers eager for the next installment. Otto appears white.
Wonderfully weird. (Paranormal. 8-12)Pub Date: Aug. 27, 2024
ISBN: 9781524881177
Page Count: 432
Publisher: Andrews McMeel Publishing
Review Posted Online: May 30, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2024
A didactic blueprint disguised as a supernatural treasure map.
A girl who delights in the macabre harnesses her inherited supernatural ability.
It’s not just her stark white hair that makes 11-year-old Zee Puckett stand out in nowheresville Knobb’s Ferry. She’s a storyteller, a Mary Shelley fangirl, and is being raised by her 21-year-old high school dropout sister while their father looks for work upstate (cue the wayward glances from the affluent demography). Don’t pity her, because Zee doesn’t acquiesce to snobbery, bullying, or pretty much anything that confronts her. But a dog with bleeding eyes in a cemetery gives her pause—momentarily—because the beast is just the tip of the wicked that has this way come to town. Time to get some help from ghosts. The creepy supernatural current continues throughout, intermingled with very real forays into bullying (Zee won’t stand for it or for the notion that good girls need to act nice), body positivity, socio-economic status and social hierarchy, and mental health. This debut from a promising writer involves a navigation of caste systems, self-esteem, and villainy that exists in an interesting world with intriguing characters, but they receive a flat, two-dimensional treatment that ultimately makes the book feel like one is learning a ho-hum lesson in morality. Zee is presumably White (as is her rich-girl nemesis–cum-comrade, Nellie). Her best friend, Elijah, is cued as Black. Warning: this just might spur frenzied requests for Frankenstein.
A didactic blueprint disguised as a supernatural treasure map. (Supernatural. 10-12)Pub Date: Aug. 10, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-06-304460-9
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Katherine Tegen/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: June 10, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
Deliciously dark and gripping.
Evie enters the otherworldly place called the Dark Sun Side, searching for Blight Harbor’s missing ghosts in this sequel to 2022’s The Clackity.
Twelve-year-old Evie Von Rathe returns, this time following the trail of missing ghost Florence and finding herself lured to the Dark Sun Side by ghoulish, evil Portia. Once there, Evie learns about the Radix, a swirling, black, oceanlike expanse of unforgiving magical power. In exchange for Evie’s return to the land of the living, Portia tasks her with retrieving the soul light from the center lantern of the Nighthouse. With the help of Bird, her tattooed sidekick who moves about her body at will, and a girl she meets on her journey named Lark, who is neither ghost nor human, Evie is pushed to her limits as she navigates this terrifying world on her important, soul-saving mission. Senf’s nightmarish, well-imagined supernatural landscape is original and compelling. Evie and Lark’s friendship is believably close and trusting, their shared pain and fear binding them together. Bird continues to be a scene-stealing companion, a necessary voice of reason and encouragement for Evie and readers alike. More than just a battle between good and supernatural evil, this story shows the ultimate power of empathy and tenacity. Readers will be left both satisfied by the ending and wanting more. Evie is cued white.
Deliciously dark and gripping. (Horror. 9-12)Pub Date: Oct. 17, 2023
ISBN: 9781665934633
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Atheneum
Review Posted Online: Aug. 11, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2023
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