Over 20 brief (average, about six pages) horror yarns that feature heavily motivated ghosts, plus a witch or two, doing nasty things, dripping body parts and various pieces of ick-with-teeth: in short, efficient gross-out tales that kids love and adults take care to read long after eating. These ghosts are mean and revoltingly corporeal. Steal an old lady's money and watch out! The hands burying the boys alive were ``nothing but bones!'' Then no knows ``Where Freddy Is,'' except—yuck!—his family will know where his feet are. In another piece, hands appear unattached and active, and two heads talk and hoot in the woods. Animals are featured in two tales: Old Dare the hound makes a rather compassionate return from the Great Kennel in the Sky, but Big Cat, kept in the cellar with its appreciative owner, crunches up...well, let's say the village is depopulating. Ghosts are really into revenge seemingly for eternity, like the group in ``The Wake-Up Call,'' wiped out in life because the clerk had forgotten the call; now when that clerk ``dropped out of sight,'' it seems to be only the beginning. Earrings whisper, scissors attack, a handle (of a casket) hops around, etc., etc. Old stuff, reminiscent of magazines like Weird Tales, but Brown spins a tight yarn and keeps her eye on the last (splat! eek!) image of each tale. Just the thing for the campfire when ``only a few coals glow in the dark, like eyes.''
Pub Date: Aug. 15, 1993
ISBN: 0-87483-332-9
Page Count: 176
Publisher: August House
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 1993
BOOK REVIEW
Romano (The Beetle And Me, p. 638) uses a nonlinear narrative and multiple points of view to paint a challenging, perspicuous character portrait. Clinging stubbornly to the illusion that her elementary school clique hasn’t left her behind for new interests and alliances, tough, bossy Janine leads a solitary life, standing alone at the bus stop in the morning, shoehorning her way into conversations at school, and poking around a marshy old mill pond in her free time. For an assignment designed to sharpen observational skills, Janine opts to keep a record of herself—unaware that she is also being watched by Eric, a new classmate with the same assignment, a broken leg, and a ready video camera. Although the cast is large enough to cause occasional confusion, Romano’s teenagers reveal themselves without resorting to tedious self-analysis. Janine, whose utter lack of social skills will not win much sympathy from readers initially, comes to realize that there are other ways to communicate besides browbeating, and shows her mettle in a genuinely frightening climax, courageously (if foolishly) launching a furious verbal attack on a fisherman who has been masturbating openly at the isolated pond. In a compelling show of solidarity, neighbors and police race to back her up, led by Eric, who catches the whole encounter on tape. Unflinching, well told, rich in character. (Fiction. 13+)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-688-16517-6
Page Count: 155
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 1999
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Hope springs eternal when two high school romances, set 40 years apart, intertwine in Loye’s supernatural debut novel.
The setting: 1969, Hope Springs, Ark. High school sweethearts Gabriel and Lizzy consecrate their undying love for one another with a moon ring. During a romantic encounter, Lizzy hands it over to Gabriel for safekeeping. But he never has a chance to return it before, hours later, he is suddenly killed by Lizzy’s jealous ex-boyfriend. It remains on his body, which goes undiscovered as the mystery of his death remains unsolved. Gabriel reappears 40 years later as an angel visible only to Maddy, the 17-year-old girl who has moved from Las Vegas to Arkansas and is now living in his old boyhood home. Maddy welcomes the vision of Gabriel and is not fearful, in part because he resembles her new boyfriend David. She sees many parallels between her feelings for David and Gabriel’s love for Lizzy and agrees to help Gabriel find the ring. Loye’s teen characters are strong and fully developed. Maddy is feisty without being aggressive as she embraces the challenge of identifying Gabriel’s killer. Danger is a recurring theme in this novel, and Maddy stands up for herself when needed; teen readers will feel empowered by the fearlessness and strength she exhibits. She also has a warm and compassionate side that becomes evident when surprising connections are revealed between the past and present. The adult characters are more one-dimensional and not as strongly defined as Maddy and her peers. As a result, the younger characters take on important responsibilities and demonstrate a maturity beyond their age. A well-crafted narrative that combines the intrigue of romantic suspense with elements of the supernatural.
Pub Date: May 23, 2011
ISBN: 978-1450296823
Page Count: 160
Publisher: iUniverse
Review Posted Online: April 9, 2012
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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