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DIARY OF A HAUNTING

From the Diary of a Haunting series , Vol. 1

Somewhat slow pacing and a horror-movie ending may disappoint some, but here’s one not to read in the dark.

What’s worse than leaving LA behind for frozen, slushy Idaho? Moving into a gloomy, pest-ridden, and probably haunted mansion.

In this Blair Witch Project–style offering, high school junior Paige moves with her younger brother and her New Age–y mother, an aging actor. Mom wants to reinvent herself, and Paige wants to be supportive after her father’s infidelity and remarriage to a younger woman…but Idaho’s bleak. The house’s infested with flies and, to Paige’s particular horror, spiders. The Internet and phone reception are spotty, and Paige’s phone sends creepy messages on its own and delays or duplicates incoming messages regularly. She and her one friend, goth Chloe, investigate the house’s history and the activities of gorgeous, gay downstairs neighbor Raph, a college student on medical leave. As the haunting worsens, Mom insists they live in harmony with the spirits. After a shaman’s scared off, Raph brings in Montague Verano (the book’s putative editor, who presents Paige’s diary as documentary evidence), an expert in Psychiana, the cult that used to occupy the house. The truth behind the haunting’s stranger and more violent than anyone could guess. The tale unfolds in Paige’s online diary, written in a strong and natural-sounding teen voice. Secret messages in repeated entries and foggy black-and-white photos up the creep factor.

Somewhat slow pacing and a horror-movie ending may disappoint some, but here’s one not to read in the dark. (Horror. 14-18)

Pub Date: Aug. 25, 2015

ISBN: 978-1-4814-3069-2

Page Count: 320

Publisher: Simon Pulse/Simon & Schuster

Review Posted Online: May 17, 2015

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2015

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THAT'S NOT MY NAME

A gripping tribute to resilience.

A girl with amnesia and a boy suspected of harming his girlfriend overcome adversity to find the answers they seek.

A 17-year-old girl wakes up in a ditch, disoriented and with no memory of who she is or what happened. Found by the Alton, Oregon, police, she is brought to the station. Soon after, Wayne Boone, a man claiming to be her father, shows up. He has photos of her on his phone and her high school ID card, with the name Mary Boone. Wayne convinces the police to release Mary into his custody. The more time Mary spends with Wayne, however, the weirder things get: He’s unaware of her food allergy, and as her memories start to return, they don’t conform with Wayne’s versions of her life. In the town of Washington City, across the Willamette River, Drew is in a bad place. His girlfriend, Lola, has disappeared, and Drew was the last person to see her. His adoptive dads and cousin are the only ones who support him; everyone else, including the sheriff, thinks he’s responsible for Lola’s disappearance. Intent on finding Lola, Drew finds help in an unlikely ally, Lola’s best friend, Autumn, who is the sheriff’s daughter. But will they find Lola in time? The two immersive storylines bring to life the trials and frustrations each main character faces in this debut, which is a thrilling delight right up to the unexpected and bittersweet conclusion. Most characters are cued white; one of Drew’s dads is Guatemalan.

A gripping tribute to resilience. (Thriller. 14-18)

Pub Date: Dec. 26, 2023

ISBN: 9781728270111

Page Count: 304

Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire

Review Posted Online: Sept. 23, 2023

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2023

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THE CHANGING MAN

A descriptive and atmospheric paranormal social thriller that could be a bit tighter.

After a Nigerian British girl goes off to an exclusive boarding school that seems to prey on less-privileged students, she discovers there might be some truth behind an urban legend.

Ife Adebola joins the Urban Achievers scholarship program at pricey, high-pressure Nithercott School, arriving shortly after a student called Leon mysteriously disappeared. Gossip says he’s a victim of the glowing-eyed Changing Man who targets the lonely, leaving them changed. Ife doesn’t believe in the myth, but amid the stresses of Nithercott’s competitive, privileged, majority-white environment, where she is constantly reminded of her state school background, she does miss her friends and family. When Malika, a fellow Black scholarship student, disappears and then returns, acting strangely devoid of personality, Ife worries the Changing Man is real—and that she’s next. Ife joins forces with classmate Bijal and Benny, Leon’s younger brother, to uncover the truth about who the Changing Man is and what he wants. Culminating in a detailed, gory, and extended climactic battle, this verbose thriller tempts readers with a nefarious mystery involving racial and class-based violence but never quite lives up to its potential and peters out thematically by its explosive finale. However, this debut offers highly visually evocative and eerie descriptions of characters and events and will appeal to fans of creature horror, social commentary, and dark academia.

A descriptive and atmospheric paranormal social thriller that could be a bit tighter. (Thriller. 14-18)

Pub Date: Sept. 26, 2023

ISBN: 9781250868138

Page Count: 384

Publisher: Feiwel & Friends

Review Posted Online: June 8, 2023

Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2023

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