Chic, engaging storytelling elevates this delectable horror romp.
Twin siblings correspond with the ghost next door in Green’s free-verse middle-grade spookfest.
Thirteen-year-old Jayce and Evie are ready to unwind for their first summer vacation at a Virginia lake resort. Local kids quickly fill them in on the legend surrounding Lake Lucy, reputedly named after a girl who inexplicably disappeared. As if that weren’t scary enough, an old, abandoned, and probably haunted house sits right next to the rental where the twins and their parents are staying. After Jayce captures video footage of a potential ghost at said house, he seeks answers by means of writing a letter to the shade (actually, his braver sister slips it in the house’s mailbox). Even Jayce is surprised when the ghost writes back. Though the scribbled replies are initially vague, later correspondence makes an unusual demand of the twins. Jayce, whose dreams are plagued by the haunted house and phantom resident, willingly obliges. Is this ghost Lucy, or someone else, and what exactly do they want? Green’s free-verse text gives this novel ample style without diluting its substance. Suspense slowly builds as more than one person warns the twins to avoid the house and Evie spots something bizarre through a window…something that doesn’t belong. The cast shines, including the ever-playful Evie, whose most beloved possession is a plush lizard; fellow vacationer Blas, whose unwavering support boosts Jayce’s courage; and the mysterious “year-round boy” whose family runs the resort. Readers will fly through these pages as short stanzas beget concise chapters. The author’s lyrical verse makes reading a sheer delight: “My air-conditioned feet wiggle / as mist pours from the door / like steam from a witch’s cauldron.” The story takes a noticeable turn well before the end; while this blunts some of the mystery, the moody atmosphere sticks around for quite a long time.
Chic, engaging storytelling elevates this delectable horror romp.Pub Date: May 14, 2024
ISBN: 9781957656465
Page Count: 294
Publisher: Monarch Educational Services, L.L.C.
Review Posted Online: Sept. 12, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2024
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A pleasing premise for book lovers.
A fantasy-loving bookworm makes a wonderful, terrible bargain.
When sixth grader Poppy Woodlock’s historic preservationist parents move the family to the Oregon coast to work on the titular stately home, Poppy’s sure she’ll find magic. Indeed, the exiled water nymph in the manor’s ruined swimming pool grants a wish, but: “Magic isn’t free. It cosssts.” The price? Poppy’s favorite book, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. In return she receives Sampson, a winged lion cub who is everything Poppy could have hoped for. But she soon learns that the nymph didn’t take just her own physical book—she erased Narnia from Poppy’s world. And it’s just the first loss: Soon, Poppy’s grandmother’s journal’s gone, then The Odyssey, and more. The loss is heartbreaking, but Sampson’s a wonderful companion, particularly as Poppy’s finding middle school a tough adjustment. Hartman’s premise is beguiling—plenty of readers will identify with Poppy, both as a fellow bibliophile and as a kid struggling to adapt. Poppy’s repeatedly expressed faith that unveiling Sampson will bring some sort of vindication wears thin, but that does not detract from the central drama. It’s a pity that the named real-world books Poppy reads are notably lacking in diversity; a story about the power of literature so limited in imagination lets both itself and readers down. Main characters are cued White; there is racial diversity in the supporting cast. Chapters open with atmospheric spot art. (This review has been updated to reflect the final illustrations.)
A pleasing premise for book lovers. (Fantasy. 9-12)Pub Date: May 2, 2023
ISBN: 9780316448222
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Feb. 24, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
Rich and strange (and kitted out with an eye-catching cover), but stronger in the set pieces than the internal logic.
Chainani works an elaborate sea change akin to Gregory Maguire’s Wicked (1995), though he leaves the waters muddied.
Every four years, two children, one regarded as particularly nice and the other particularly nasty, are snatched from the village of Gavaldon by the shadowy School Master to attend the divided titular school. Those who survive to graduate become major or minor characters in fairy tales. When it happens to sweet, Disney princess–like Sophie and her friend Agatha, plain of features, sour of disposition and low of self-esteem, they are both horrified to discover that they’ve been dropped not where they expect but at Evil and at Good respectively. Gradually—too gradually, as the author strings out hundreds of pages of Hogwarts-style pranks, classroom mishaps and competitions both academic and romantic—it becomes clear that the placement wasn’t a mistake at all. Growing into their true natures amid revelations and marked physical changes, the two spark escalating rivalry between the wings of the school. This leads up to a vicious climactic fight that sees Good and Evil repeatedly switching sides. At this point, readers are likely to feel suddenly left behind, as, thanks to summary deus ex machina resolutions, everything turns out swell(ish).
Rich and strange (and kitted out with an eye-catching cover), but stronger in the set pieces than the internal logic. (Fantasy. 11-13)Pub Date: May 14, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-06-210489-2
Page Count: 496
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Feb. 12, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2013
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