A captivating historical ghost story.
Beatrice “Beet” MacNeill can see ghosts—but it’s more than just spirits that have been haunting the small coastal town of Skinner Harbour.
When Beet’s cousin Gerry comes to her soaking wet on the night in 1949 when his son, Joseph, is being born, he’s surrounded by the smell of roses and playing a ghostly melody on his fiddle. Beet realizes he’s dead. She has heard many stories about the supernatural—her friend Jeannine is obsessed with them—but it wasn’t until that night that Beet started believing them herself. Something strange is happening on Prince Edward Island. Old Sarah Campbell, Gerry’s estranged mother, dies about a year later, and her beautiful and eerie niece, Marina Shaw, comes to town, putting baby Joseph and his mother in grave danger. When Marina tries to take Joseph away to live with her in Massachusetts, Beet and Jeannine work together with their friends and the local librarian to try to save both him and the island from Marina’s sinister powers, the deadly pull of the water, and a legendary creature of the sea. This is a thoroughly enjoyable and suspenseful tale infused with Scottish immigrants’ folklore. With storylines taking place in multiple decades spanning the 19th and 20th centuries and narration from various characters’ points of view, the plot can occasionally be confusing to follow, but readers will be drawn in by the haunting atmosphere. Characters are cued as White.
A captivating historical ghost story. (author's note) (Paranormal. 12-16)Pub Date: June 1, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-5344-8244-9
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Atheneum
Review Posted Online: March 30, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2021
Though it lacks references or suggestions for further reading, Arn's agonizing story is compelling enough that many readers...
A harrowing tale of survival in the Killing Fields.
The childhood of Arn Chorn-Pond has been captured for young readers before, in Michelle Lord and Shino Arihara's picture book, A Song for Cambodia (2008). McCormick, known for issue-oriented realism, offers a fictionalized retelling of Chorn-Pond's youth for older readers. McCormick's version begins when the Khmer Rouge marches into 11-year-old Arn's Cambodian neighborhood and forces everyone into the country. Arn doesn't understand what the Khmer Rouge stands for; he only knows that over the next several years he and the other children shrink away on a handful of rice a day, while the corpses of adults pile ever higher in the mango grove. Arn does what he must to survive—and, wherever possible, to protect a small pocket of children and adults around him. Arn's chilling history pulls no punches, trusting its readers to cope with the reality of children forced to participate in murder, torture, sexual exploitation and genocide. This gut-wrenching tale is marred only by the author's choice to use broken English for both dialogue and description. Chorn-Pond, in real life, has spoken eloquently (and fluently) on the influence he's gained by learning English; this prose diminishes both his struggle and his story.
Though it lacks references or suggestions for further reading, Arn's agonizing story is compelling enough that many readers will seek out the history themselves. (preface, author's note) (Historical fiction. 12-15)Pub Date: May 8, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-06-173093-1
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Balzer + Bray/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: March 20, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2012
An eerie thriller reminiscent of summer horror movies that will keep readers on edge.
Two teens with a dark secret return to their old summer camp.
Childhood friends Esme and Kayla can’t wait to return to Camp Pine Lake as counselors-in-training, ready to try everything they couldn’t do when they were younger: find cute boys, stay up late, and sneak out after hours. Even Andy, their straight-laced supervisor, can’t dampen their excitement, especially after they meet the crushworthy Olly and Jake. An intuitive 17-year-old, Esme is ready to jump in and teach her cute little campers. But when a threatening message appears, Esme and Kayla realize the secret they’ve kept hidden for nearly a decade is no longer safe. Paranoia and fear soon cause Esme and Kayla to revisit their ominous secret and realize that nobody in the camp can be trusted. The slow buildup of suspense and the use of classic horror elements contrast with lighthearted camp activities, bonding with new friends, and budding romance. Similarly, Esme’s first-person point of view allows for increased tension and action as well as offering insight into her emotional and mental well-being. Discussions of adulthood, trauma, and recovery are subtle and realistic, but acts of sexism and machismo aren’t fully analyzed. While the strong buildup of action comes late, it leads to a shockingly satisfying finale. Major characters are White.
An eerie thriller reminiscent of summer horror movies that will keep readers on edge. (Thriller. 12-16)Pub Date: March 2, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-593-12497-0
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Delacorte
Review Posted Online: Dec. 9, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2021
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