The Nest by Kenneth Oppel

Ah. To be perfect. To not suffer. To not have anxiety. What if you were promised that all your troubles would go away and you could have the perfect life if you agreed to one thing. Would you be tempted? Steve is. See his baby brother is horribly sick. He might die. He might not talk. He might not walk. He needs an operation on his heart and no one is sure how his baby brother will grow. And that's not all of Steve's problems. He sees a therapist for his own problems. When an angel appears in Steve's dreams promising to take his troubles away, it is easy to see why Steve agrees to the angel's request. Only this dream quickly becomes a nightmare, his angel a wasp, and Steve realizes that perfection doesn't exist. Worse, he has agreed to something he cannot take back even though the cost is someone's life.

What a creepy horror story. The slow buildup of tension and odd characters make this book hard to put down and the science behind wasps make them the perfect villains in the story. Toss in a suspicious man that sharpens knives for a living, a live voice on a toy phone, and you have a great setup to spread shivers among readers of all ages. I would love to try this as a read aloud.

The character arc shows Steve wanting all his troubles go away. A sympathetic motherly figure appears in a dream and smooth-talks her way into getting Steve to go along with her plan that seems innocent at first but becomes more sinister and evil as time goes on. The wasp that can sting its victim over and over is a great metaphor for the suffering that Steve and his family have endured with the birth of a baby brother that is "broken" inside. Steve just wants a normal life and it isn't until the end that he realizes that there is no such thing as normal. I didn't realize that Kenneth Oppel is Canadian. I had this book on my Newbery list and it doesn't qualify. It's really well-done. A good one for your collection.

5 Smileys

The Hollow Boy (Lockwood & Co. #3) by Jonathan Stroud

There's plenty of action in this creepy third book as Lockwood & Co. have more clients than they can keep up with on a daily basis as a result of their previous successes. They hire Holly as an assistant but Lucie doesn't like the change in dynamics and there seems to be a bit of jealousy as she has feelings for Lockwood. George and Lockwood love the change. Holly cleans up and keeps them organized and when she goes on a haunting spree, to Lucie's horror, she saves her life. Not that Lucie can show she is grateful. She's usually rolling her eyes at her while Holly makes her own jabs at Lucie's lack of style and cleanliness. Then there is the ghost in the jar that Lucie talks to but hides from Holly. Lucie is changing in that her ability to connect with ghosts and as her skill grows deeper she begins to threaten the lives of her team.

This is a series that you want to read from the start to fully enjoy the character arc of Lucie, the state of London's ghost plague, and understand the different levels of ghosts. Lucie is extremely talented as a ghost hunter but unorthodox and empathetic toward them. She's also attached and attracted to Lockwood in a way that is more clear having read the previous books. In this story she's frustrated with Lockwood as he shuts people out of his life and keeps them at a distance. He always has but Lucie thought after he opened up about his sister's death he'd not go back to being the way he was previously. But old habits die hard and Lockwood crawls into his shell while Lucie tries to deal with her feelings of rivalry with the new hire.

The pacing felt a bit choppy as the team kept taking on what seemed like random cases, but eventually the direction becomes clear. When Holly joins the team, she and Lucie bicker at a tiresome rate and it is pretty clear a confrontation will happen. I just didn't expect it to happen like it did. Jonathan Stroud is good with surprises. The ghost in the bottle is sarcastic and adds humor to the story that balances the dark side of what is happening in London. He's like the djinni in the Bartimaeus trilogy. The horrors would be oppressive without his voice. He's also unpredictable because sometimes he is helpful, but usually he is doling out bad advice to Lucie. Like telling her how to kill Holly while on an assignment. Good fun with an ending that will make you scramble for book four.

4 Smileys

The Enemy (The Enemy #1) by Charlie Higson

Ever watch a movie splattered with special effects and tense action scenes, but short on plot and character development? This book echoes that type of movie. The nonstop fighting is going to appeal to many readers, but I wasn't even sure who the protagonist was after 50 pages. The end has an interesting development that shows different types of teenagers vying for power that made me think about the formation of autocratic versus democratic governments, but it comes too late. Much of the violence serves itself rather than advance the plot, characters are flat for the most part, and the dialogue is cheesy making it forgettable. If you are looking for zombie books try The Haunting of Derek Stone series by Tony Abbott or the funny Dead City series by James Ponti that have better character development and plot. If you want zombies fighting kids, lots of gore and horror, and a bit of "Lord of the Flies" then try this one. The sloppy writing made me lose interest pretty fast.

London is overrun by zombies over the age of 16 whose main food source is healthy children. The zombie disease happens when people are above ground which is never explained, although one of the adults seems to have an inkling of the cause. However, he dies. People die willy-nilly in this book. Death should bring some emotional response to the reader, but I was never vested in any character so I didn't care who was killed off. Kid survivors have sought refuge in deserted London buildings where they can fortify and protect themselves to some extent against the killer zombie groups. Arran is the leader of one of those groups with his second, Maxie, who has a crush on him. They only know of one other group, the Morrisons, holed up like them.

After they rescue a lone boy under zombie attack at their door, he explains there are groups like their own all over London, Maxie and Arran are surprised. The boy is the only one left of his scouting group trying to get kids to join forces at Buckingham Palace. After a scavenging hunt gone wrong, food becoming scarce, and adults attacking their compound more often, Arran and Maxie along with the rest of their group are more than ready to leave, except Callum. His fear has made him have symptoms that resemble agoraphobia. He refuses to leave and stays behind. The adventure to the Palace is full of perils with not everyone makes it alive. At the Palace, the groups learn about oppressive leadership and must decide their futures.

Maxie is the protagonist and the voice of reason in an insane world. She keeps her humanity and is willing to speak up. While she is supposed to look strong, the reader doesn't see how others look at her. The result is it looks like she is being manipulated by the boy leaders and is only interested in having a romantic relationship. She is described as being not pretty and a great fighter, but she isn't really intriguing. The characters were very one-dimensional for me.

Survivor Sam is the alternate point-of-view and he just spends his time on the run and staying alive. He gains confidence with each dire situation he manages to get out of, but I got bored with the repetitive pattern after awhile. I also thought some of the chapters wasted because when there is a chance to explain what had happened to the adults, it is not given. Another point-of-view is Callum. Why bother? He's supposed to show the psychological trauma of trying to survive a zombie apocalypse but he is more like a deer in headlights. And again, Callum is not rounded out in way that the reader can understand. 

Kids love scary books and this one will make 'em shiver, but its execution misses the mark. While the violence isn't graphic, it is gross. The zombies explode, ooze pus, live in filth, and are decayed. I was disgusted because I actually dreamed of zombies last night and woke up with my heart racing. I've never done well with the horror genre. Can't do the movies or the books. If you do read it, go in with low expectations and don't plan on having your questions answered as this haphazard plot sets up for the sequel.

2 Smileys

The Whispering Skull (Lockwood & Co. #2) by Jonathan Stroud

I have two big papers due for a class I'm taking for certification credits and made the foolish mistake of picking up this book to read on the high-speed train to Tainan, Taiwan. What a ride! I couldn't put it down. If I could only read at a 150 miles per hour. Stroud's descriptions and character development are fantastic as always, but I really liked the twists and turns of the plot in book two of the Lockwood & Co. series. This mystery was cranked up a notch from book one with a snarky, harbinger skull that added ghoulish humor and three-dimensional villainy. Be warned, I guarantee you'll be shirking responsibilities once you start this creepy ghost mystery.

Lockwood & Company, made up of agents Lockwood, Lucy, and George, is trying to survive in a competitive ghost agency market. Even though six months earlier the trio rid London's most haunted house of powerful ghosts, they still have to work hard to keep the business going and more often than not come up against the Fittes Agency, the biggest ghost-busting outfit in town. When the two groups come head-to-head, they challenge each other to a competition where the loser must put an advertisement in the London Times announcing their loss.

The teams get hired by the government to solve a case involving the ghost of a Victorian doctor, Edmund Bickerstaff, and a powerful relic he created out of bones thats kills when a person looks at it.   The case was the result of George letting his curiosity for relics get the better of himself and endangering his life. Lucy is there to save the day. Her talents are becoming more focused and powerful. She is a strong female character that is smart and clever.

Lucy narrates the story in first person which adds to the claustrophobic tense situations. Her narrow viewpoint supports the mysteriousness of Lockwood as she is always trying to figure him out. She admires and likes him but resents that he is so reserved at times. He doesn't talk about his past or family and doesn't have hobbies. All three characters have nice arcs that tie in with the themes. Lucy learns more about trust, Lockwood learns to open up about his past, and George learns that being too obsessive can be unhealthy.  Lockwood also does the right thing in a competition when he recognizes that his win wouldn't have happened without the other teams help. Meanwhile the Fittes leader, Quill Kipps, gives a reason for his motivations and meanness toward Lockwood & Company when his life is saved. Great ghosts. Great gore. Great fun. Sure beats writing a college paper.

5 Smileys

The Night Gardener by Jonathan Auxier

This ghost story is rich with layered meanings. A manifestation of themes involve facing fears, dealing with grief, and the affects of storytelling and lies on others. When fourteen year old Molly McConnachie and the aged Hester Kettle tell stories to people it is magical. Molly is so gifted that the woman, Constance, takes her on as hired help just so she can hear the end of her story that she spins on her doorstep. Likewise Hester can get food for free from vendors in exchange for a taste of her stories. When Molly and Hester meet in the story, Hester keenly asks the difference between a story and a lie. A creepy, gothic setting lightened with humor and great character voices and development make this a nose-pressed-to-the-pages type book. I won't be surprised to see this well-written novel on award lists.

Molly and her younger brother, Kip, were traveling on a steamer from Ireland with their parents when it sank. Both parents died and Molly keeps this hidden from Kip who was sick with fever on board. She leads him to the Windsor house where she has gotten employment from a man whose wife, Constance, does not want her help. Molly convinces Constance by telling her a story. The old house is part tree, part building and Molly and Kip soon learn that something is not right with the house. Each night the two have terrible nightmares and in the morning dried mud and leaves litter the floorboards. Constance's two children and husband have physically deteriorated like dead leaves on a tree. When Molly's red hair turns black and she too begins to sicken the two try to solve the puzzle of what is happening at night in the haunted mansion.

Kip is crippled and uses a crutch called, "Courage." He takes care of the yard and horse while Molly does housekeeping and cares for six-year-old Penny. Molly is protective of Kip because he is crippled and she thinks too young to know the truth about their parents dying in a shipwreck. This is a story about growing up and how protectiveness changes to independence at some point in relationships. For Molly and Kip, Kip accepts Molly's stories at first. Later, he wants to hear the truth and help Molly. Kip wants Molly to be honest with him. He's growing up and desires to share in the responsibility of making decisions. He changes from the young boy that accepts what Molly says to one that questions her and gives her advice by the end. Molly changes in letting go of her protectiveness and the two mature in their relationship.

Molly changes in the novel as she learns to deal with survivor's guilt. She blames herself for her parents'  deaths just as Kip blames himself for them leaving Ireland. He is too young to understand that their family left because of a devastating potato famine. He thought they had to leave because he wasn't strong enough to work the farm. His crippled leg makes him feel worthless and he must learn to deal with his disability. Meanwhile, Molly struggles with her parents making her and Kip take the last two seats on the life-raft while they sank with the ship. She feels guilty that they willingly died to save the two of them. Both children must face their grief and move on in life.

The youngster Penny adds humor to this somewhat dark story. The author does a great job balancing the dark side of this tale with some lightness. When Molly tells Penny that she has a dream, she means a goal in life, but Penny takes it literally and asks if she had a bad dream while sleeping that night. Molly is mature with how she deals with Penny. She either distracts her by asking a question or turns unpleasant tasks into a game. When Penny doesn't want her medicine, Molly asks her what her heroine would do. She suggests she'd make a hearty laugh and down the medicine. She's teaching Penny to face her fears. After Penny takes the medicine, she finds that the taste is actually yummy. Molly is showing Penny to have courage to face what scares her.

This trait in Molly is from her parents teaching her to face her fears. She describes how she heard a howling noise and wanted to hide but her parents taught her that if a monster was hiding under the bed, she needed to look under it to find out for sure.  She's plucky and courageous, grabbing a candlestick along the way as a weapon as she investigates the sounds. Kip is similar and talks about being afraid to hear the truth but embracing the fear. "True is still true, even if it's bad. That means I want to hear it." Kip is kind to Molly and likes her protection until he sees the house changing her physically and personality-wise. Later, he is affected too. The two become self-centered and callous. When the kind Kip says it is better a certain character was killed than them, it shows how much the haunted house has changed them both.

Alistair is a bully that Kip immediately recognizes as delighting in torturing smaller or younger people because belittling another makes Alistair feel powerful. Alistair's mother does not approve of his meanness, yet she can be cold and mean to Molly. Once in a while there is a glimpse of a kinder woman. Molly and Kip learn that even though the family is getting their wishes or heart's desire, it does not bring them happiness. Kip explains how the tree gives people their wishes or deep desires, but it doesn't improve their lot. He realizes that there is a difference between what people want and what they need. Kip doesn't want a crippled leg. Molly doesn't want her parents to sacrifice their lives for them. Kip also realizes that doing what is smart is not the same as doing what is right. Doing the right thing means risk. He needs courage to face the Night Gardener. Even Alistair who is mean and self-centered, learns what is means to take a risk for those loved.

The theme of storytelling has a unique twist exploring the difference between a tale and lie. Molly has had to tell fibs and gets progressively worse as the story goes on. Part of the time she's protecting Kip. Other times she's being affected by the power of the haunted tree. When Molly says her story was a lie, Hester asks what is the difference. Molly responds that a lie hurts people and a story helps them. When Hester asks what it helps them with, Molly doesn't have an answer. Molly doesn't understand the difference, because she turns around and lies to Kip in a way that is hurtful. Later on when Hester asks her, "What's a storyteller but someone who asks folks to believe in the impossible things?" Molly realizes that "A story helps folks face the world, even when it frightens 'em. And a lie does the opposite. It helps you hide." Molly, Kip and the Windsor family are all hiding from their fears.

The plot creates a menacing atmosphere, "Sometimes in the wee hours, there's a wailing sound come down the village road - the kind of scream that sets your every hair on end." Kip and Molly's Irish accents add voice that isn't confusingly heavy and creates memorable characters. They mainly say, "wee," "dinna," and "canna." While reading I did wonder why Molly makes everyone else get rid of their wishes, but she doesn't. This seemed forced and made it easy for me to predict one part. I also wondered why Kip didn't question Molly considering he watched every day for hours for the postman. I'll take Molly's advice to Kip, "We'll never know. And maybe that's the best. It's a bad tale that has all the answers."

The connection between oral history before written literature adds depth to the plot as well. In Ireland, storytellers were called, "bards" and various other names throughout Europe. The author cleverly weaves this history into his ghost story mentioning the famous Greek fabulist, Aesop. "Chanticleer and the Fox" is mentioned too which is a fable from the Middle Ages that centers around the harmfulness of too much pride.  This fable is thought to come from Aesops' "The Fox and the Crow" and I had fun connecting the references. Jonathan Auxier' is a moral story or fable too about greed and centers around how far people will go to get what they think they need. The doctor made me think of the moral fable too. He is racist toward Kip comparing Irishmen to baboons. He is so vain and bent on making a name for himself that Molly manipulates this weakness to serve her own purposes. The doctor is like the "Fox and Chanticleer" fable about pride. He is a buffoon and as a one-dimensional character adds humor. When Molly asks if he is treating Constance with leeches, he condescendingly tells her they treat with laudanum now. Pick your poison: leeches or opium.

Here is a great article where Auxier explains what books inspired him to write this nine-year labor of love such as Washington Irving, but I would add to his list "A Christmas Carol" by Charles Dickens. A major theme entails human greed and Bertrand has some Scrooge-like problems with money. When he's carrying a bag of coins and ""Molly thought to herself that it sounded more like a bag of chains," I thought of Scrooge chained to his money. The Windsor family is chained to the tree metaphorically. Kind Kip with his crutch reminds me of Tiny Tim and the ghostly Gardener reminds me of the Ghost of Christmas Past that used to scare the pastrami out of me. Don't pass this one up.

5 Smileys

Fury of the Seventh Son (The Last Apprentice / Wardstone Chronicles #13) by Joseph Delaney

Delaney departs a bit from his usual pattern in this series finale. There is still plenty of action and violence, but there are no new monsters and more revisiting adventures Tom and John had in previous books. It doesn't read like a finale. I had more questions at the end then answers. It looks like a spinoff series will result. Some foreshadowing suggests that a female spook is in the making and that Alice and Tom will have to face their issues at a later date.

*spoiler*
While the reminiscing by Tom is interspersed enough that it doesn't slow the plot, those that have read the entire series might like the walk down memory lane, while others might not. It doesn't forward the plot although I could maybe argue that it shows Tom is now ready to take over the spook business. His character arc is mainly learning to stand on his own and trust his own instincts. Alice takes a back seat and is out-of-character for much of the beginning. She has always represented the mixture of good and evil and in most of this novel she is evil, which is different from her presentation in the previous books. I was happy to see at the end the return of her more familiar ambiguous character that looks differently at right or wrong than the average person. The romance was awkward and didn't quite work for me.

The forces of evil are putting the Fiend together except this time Alice is helping a powerful mage. This part of the plot needed to be fleshed out more because Alice's motivations and casting aside of friendships to the point of sacrificing Grimalkin and others just didn't make sense to me. I would have expected her to be torn more but she just stepped into the cauldron of evil and suppressed her good side. It doesn't make much sense until the end. In the grand battle at the end I expected Alice and the mage to be present but they aren't. Grimalkin gets more page time in this book then Alice and I find her character one dimensional and less interesting than Alice. I really wanted Tom and Alice to meet up and argue more about what she was doing. Tom wonders if she's in a thrall or power of the mage, but its pretty obvious that she isn't. So why would she turn head-over-heals bonkers over a thousand year old man at first sight? Her loyalty to Tom is a consistent trait throughout all the books and this is why I say she is out-of-character in the beginning with her harsh words to Tom.

John's death should have moved me, but it didn't. It seemed a good time to retire his character. He'd changed enough to accept Tom's incorporation of magic into a spook's life and it seemed fitting so that Tom could be on his own. John shows a softer side to Tom that foreshadows his demise. I wasn't keen on the prophecy because it gave away some major plot points. This technique adds tension but I find that I prefer different ways to pull the reader along. The problem with a series this long the characters have not changed much and the plot starts to feel recycled. But really, this is more candy reading for me. I just want something fast and entertaining and that is what I got. I'm not expecting anything too deep.  I do always look forward to Delaney's creepy monsters and the Boggart's new alliance with Tom was a great touch. At least we are done with the Fiend. Hooray.

3 Smileys

The Screaming Staircase (Lockwood & Co. #1) by Jonathan Stroud

In the grab bag of genres, ghost stories rank in the top as student favorites. If it's a scary book, usually eager hands snatch or fight over it like banshees. "The Screaming Staircase" is an entertaining ghost story that has plenty of action, humor, creepiness, strong characters, and a somewhat predictable mystery. Jonathan Stroud is one of those writers that understands cadence and has a strong command of words. He is so good at word choice, sentence structure, and descriptions I get completely lost in the story and can't put his books down. He's on my list of "dinner-burning authors." Ones where I get so lost in the imaginary world that I forget dinner on the stove, don't hear my husband talking, and basically become an insensitive ghost to those around me. I'm the opposite of the children in Stroud's tale whose youth give them extreme psychic sensitivity to ghosts as compared to adults allowing them to see and hear them.

Fifty years ago a ghost epidemic threatened the population. People were dying from being touched by ghosts, that only children could see. A rash of agencies rose to protect the populace with adult supervisors of children hunting ghosts. Not everyone has the ghost-seeing talent and the dangerous work meant high mortality rates. When Lucy Carlyle interviews for a job she names all the agents she worked with followed with, "They're all dead now." Lucy, a talented agent at hearing ghosts, takes a job at Lockwood & Company run by Anthony Lockwood, gifted at seeing ghosts, and his partner, George Cubbins, an amazing researcher. She likes the fact the two run a company with no adult supervisors. The threesome soon learn that their talents complement each other making them a powerful force at catching ghosts. The problem is they are not always careful or think through things properly. When they burn a client's house down, their company is threatened with bankruptcy, until a wealthy man comes challenging them to rid ghosts from the most haunted house in the city that he owns. Others ghost hunters have tried this before. No agent has ever survived a night in the house. But this doesn't stop Lockwood & Company taking the case.

Stroud creates an alternate world that has a gothic, Victorian type setting that echoes Sir Conan Doyle's writing. There are mobiles and pizzas that give it a modern flavor; yet the descriptions of buildings and homes have a gothic bent along with Lockwood's paranormal artifact collection. A creepy, dark atmosphere is created that works well with the ghostly thriller. My only complaint is that the mystery was too predictable; however, the unique ghosts save it from being boring. Stroud mixes intense moments with light humor to strike the right balance for readers. "Miasma's intensifying," I said. "My limbs were heavy, my brain tugged by alien emotions of futility and despair. The taste of decay was bitter in my mouth. I took another mint to freshen things."

The premise of only children seeing ghosts will appeal to kids because it gives them a skill adults don't have and power over grown-ups - the group that usually has authority over them. Parental authority can be a source of angst and this story is a way to vicariously reverse roles. Or it allows the kid to be not only in-charge, but the hero who gets to protect the adult versus the other way around. Or maybe it is a way to prepare for adulthood when the reader will protect others. The reader can interpret and absorb the premise in whatever way he or she wants creating that visceral element in literature that appeals to deep emotions in readers that elude definition.

The novel's beginning structure is not conventional, but it worked for me. Stroud spends the first 50 pages hooking the reader into the story with little backdrop and descriptions of characters. I didn't really get a clear picture until the flashback into Lucy's past. The hook is full of action and enough hints that I didn't get confused and was willing to go with it. At one point the point of view changed to "we" where the narrator sounds like she's giving the reader a how-to manual on how to catch ghosts. Some might think it slows the pace or doesn't get into the mystery fast enough. I'm not so sure. I like it when an author takes a risk and tries something different. I even wondered what it would have sounded like if he'd switched to 2nd person narration so that it would really have a how-to feel. I only thought of that because of another author using that style in an adult book. It would probably have been too confusing for young readers. But I digress.

A few plot points are not wrapped up and I'm sure the author is saving it for the sequel.  Lucy's story arc involves learning to trust people she works with and by the end the three seem to be a team that can verbally disagree with each other but who have each others backs.  Lockwood's past is not explained and neither is George's. Enough is given to satisfy the reader into making his or her own assumptions but it seems clear that more is to come. I heard the movie rights were bought for this book. Sounds like fun, but I am more eager to read book two of Lockwood & Co!

4 Smileys

The Ghost Prison by Joseph Delaney

My siblings and I would tent under my bed covers with a flashlight telling ghost stories, each one trying to outdo the other in telling the scariest tale. I was never particularly good at it and would have loved to have known this one to spin for them. There's even a part where the lights go out and I could have flicked the flashlight off. I'm not much of a horror genre gal but I do like Joseph Delaney. His writing tends to be succinct and full of tension and great monsters. This creepy ghost story with a twisted ending will surprise and satisfy many young readers or listeners. Perhaps it would work as a read aloud in grades 4 or 5 with the short illustrated chapters giving it a half-and-half text to picture ratio over the course of 100 pages. Depends on the class. You'll have to pull out your creep-o-meter to measure what they can tolerate.

The protagonist, Billy, is a fifteen-year-old orphan boy who gets a job as a guard at a castle. He works the night shift and learns that he was chosen because one of the castle ghosts asked for him. The castle is haunted and the guard-in-charge explains that Billy must never go through the entrance to the Witch Well for a monster lives at the bottom and no one that has gone down has ever come back up. When circumstances come about that force him to the door, Billy must decide if he will help out a guard or ignore orders. See if he survives... mwah-hah-hah! (It's so fun writing that word even if it's corny.)

The illustrations do a great job enhancing the text so that the monsters can be envisioned by a young reader working toward fluency. I particularly like the last illustration that adds a punch to the plot twist. The black and white pictures help set the scary mood and focus attention on Billy's terror. The sharp angles and splotches of black are unsettling and applied to the evil forces or nasty characters while Billy is usually rendered in black outline with the white background of the paper coming through. His face is portrayed as innocent and naive at first before looking terrorized and aged by the end.

The plot is predictable and there's no character change. Some twists were fun. It's short. The story is more of a study in writing good tension and creating gruesome monsters. This is the strength of Delaney's writing. He thinks up some of the creepiest blood-sucking monsters that I've ever read. He isn't so scary that I can't read his works and he's not so graphic that I can't stomach it. I guess in that regard it might not be such a good read aloud in a class if the kids scare easily. Like I said earlier, use your creep-o-meter to determine their temperature for horror.

I can't help myself. One more mwah-ha-ha. I have no clue how to write that word... mwahaha or mwah haha or do "h"s go in with the haha's.. no matter. Vincent Price was my favorite mwah-ha-ha'er.  Whatever it is pick up this book. It's mwah's favorite ghost story. Okay. I'll quit. Silly mwah.

This is less dense than Goosebumps or Mary Downing Hahn's ghost story books. It's closer to Rotten School but with more pictures.

3 Smileys

Doll Bones by Holly Black

My best friend, Ginny, and I would sneak into the storm sewer system that emptied into the nature center bordering our adjacent backyards, huddle around a candle (it was more exciting striking a match than flipping a flashlight switch) and whisper ghost stories to each other. We'd hike in the inky darkness bent at the waist until reaching a manhole where we'd straighten up looking at a spotlight of sunshine near a small hole at the top. Sometimes I'd climb the rungs to get closer to the light feeling relief from the stale, black claustrophobic enclosure. One time, we reached the third manhole and spun a wild bigfoot tale. When we finished the story we heard a loud scraping noise and a gust of air blew out the candle. Screaming at the top of our lungs and convinced a monster had found us in an underground grave, Ginny dropped the candle and we sprinted hunched over taking the skin off our elbows and heads as we banged along the narrow concrete tube toward the only exit. We burst out into the sunlight, flopping onto the grass, laughing hysterically and savoring the joy of a fun adventure. This book reminds me of those good times as a youngster. Not only does it scare the reader, it explores the idea that when people grow up they stop making up imaginative creative stories like they did in childhood. As adults creative outlets change; as a child, the belief in magic and the impossible still exits. Holly Black has created a well-crafted, suspenseful, horror story that will appeal to adults and children. She hasn't written a children's book since "The Spiderwick Chronicles" with Tony DiTerlizzi and while I have seen some of her graphic novels, I haven't seen a middle grade book in a long time. This one is terrific. I can see why it is on Newbery lists as a contender this year. 

Twelve-year-old Zach, Alice, and Poppy have created an imaginary world for years using action figures and dolls. Their swashbuckling pirate adventures are pretty elaborate with Poppy usually playing the villain, Zach the pirate, and Alice his crazy, loud sidekick.  When Zach's dad tosses out his action figures because he thinks Zach shouldn't be playing with dolls, Zach is so upset he can't talk about it. When he tells Alice and Poppy he isn't going to play "the game" anymore they can't understand why. Poppy gets so upset that she takes her mother's forbidden antique doll from the case. This creepy doll is the Queen in their pretend play and everything done is meant to please her. The doll is haunted by a ghost who tells the three that they must bury her or terrible things will happen. They take off on an adventure to not only bury the Queen doll, but say, "Goodbye," to their childhood games. The intricate plot between the imaginary play and real life events and relationships of the three make this a fascinating read.

I want to explore this book more in depth than creating a surface review so this is your spoiler alert. Stop here if you don't want to know the plot.

We first meet Zachary, Alice, and Poppy where they are pretending the pirate, William the Blade, is on a quest to find who his father is on the high seas. This reflects Zach's real life where his dad left their family three years ago in pursuit of a dream to own a business that didn't come true and left him bitter and angry. Zach is not happy that his dad moved back home. He isn't sure he wants to claim him as a father. Alice's parents died and she lives with an overprotective, smothering grandmother who won't even let her choose what clothes to wear. In the pirate game, Alice plays her alterego GI Joe Lady Jaye, who does as she pleases. Lady Jaye steals from everyone and gets mad at Poppy who likes to improvise and dominate the storyline. Poppy is fierce and dramatic which makes her good at playing the villains. Poppy (which means friendship) doesn't want her friends to change and desperately tries to keep their pretend game going to the point of making up, or not, the ghost haunting the doll. William the Blade, who rescues Lady Jaye and is the hero mirrors Alice's crush on the unbeknownst Zach that she wants to date. In the beginning of the story, the mermaid (played by Poppy) asks for a sacrifice to cross the sea and grabs Lady Jaye (played by Alice). When Alice says that Poppy can't just change the rules and grab her it foreshadows the sacrifices the three will face on their quest to bury a doll. Poppy sacrifices her friends by letting them not play the game. Alice sacrifices being grounded by her grandma for the rest of her life. And Zach sacrifices not playing the game anymore because his dad destroyed his action figures.

There are so many layers to this book I can't possibly write them all but I'll try to touch on a few. The peer pressure and its affect on friendships is shown in Poppy's older brothers who laugh at Zach when the three are playing at Poppy's house. Zach is also worried about his friends on the basketball team finding out that he plays with the two girls. The game and the sport are important to Zach and he doesn't want to give either up. He talks about the special basketball handshake and says, "... and every time Zach did it, he felt the warm buzz of belonging." The author does a fantastic job showing how the three friends have created a sophisticated game and how it helps them cope with fears and life. For instance, the antique doll they named, "The Queen," is incorporated into the pretend game because she is scary. The Queen is also a symbol of absolute authority which is a reflection on the life of a child who has little say in what he or she does each day. 

Another important part of the game is the three friends pass notes to each other and ask questions directed at characters. Poppy writes William the Blade some questions in a note she gives to Zach.  She asks if William would give up being a pirate? Which is basically the same as asking if Zach would give up the game. Poppy wants to know if William would miss the game. She asks who he thinks his father is which mirrors Zach's struggles with his father currently. The next question asks if William the Blade likes Lady Jaye. Poppy is trying to find out for Alice if Zach likes her. The last question is if William has nightmares. Zach describes William's nightmare of drowning and wanting to be buried at sea. Again some clever foreshadowing occurs through this technique as the next chapter has Zach's dad tossing out William the Blade who ends up buried in a garbage landfill.

Zach doesn't tell Alice and Poppy the real reason he can't play the game. I did wonder why, but it becomes clear at the end that he can't because it hurts too much and he'd be admitting that he can't ever play again. I wished the author had implied this more when Zach first made the decision to not tell the girls. This made that turning point seem a bit contrived, but it didn't bother me too much because I remember as a teenager holding back on friends and not really knowing why. Poppy is so upset he won't play that she pulls the Queen doll out of the case so that Zach will play with them again. When the doll starts to speak to her and say that she is a ghost who was murdered and needs to be buried in a specific grave, the three embark on an adventure that reflects their pretend game. We never really know if Poppy is really seeing a ghost or manipulating her friends. When Zach thinks he dreams about the dead girl it involves an evil stepmom tossing out her toys and it leaves the reader guessing if the real quest is helping him deal with his dad's actions or is it a real ghost? Alice doesn't believe in the ghost because if she did then why hadn't her two dead parents come to talk to her? The author does a great job maintaining this tension and suspense. Other adult characters add to this as they comment on the four of them and refer to the doll as a blond-haired person. Throw in the mystery of how the doll was made and history of the girl's death and you have a fun scary story. Light a candle when you sit down with this one.

All the characters go through an emotional arc but I was pleasantly surprised and pleased with Zach's dad. He's a minor character but it is a good message to kids that adults make mistakes. When Zach's dad first tosses out his toys, Zach's mom is really upset because the dad didn't talk to anyone first. The dad apologizes the next morning but Zach knows that it isn't sincere. Zach reflects on when he was forced to apologize for something he didn't feel sorry about and sees his dad doing the same thing. When Zach runs away with Poppy and Alice and everything goes kerplooey, Zach talks to his dad on the phone. This time, Zach not only gets a sincere apology, he finds the answer to William the Blade's question as to who his father is in the pretend story. In real-life Zach's father is a man who makes mistakes, is willing to admit it, and truly loves his son.

The author captures the age well from the giggling friends at school to the difficulty of changing friendships. Zach says "Sometimes it seemed to him that girls spoke a different language, but he couldn't figure out when they learned it. He was pretty sure that they used to speak the same language a year ago." Later when Poppy and Alice get into a nasty fight it is because Alice wants to stop playing the game and abandon the adventure of burying the doll, but Poppy refuses. Poppy expresses her fear of the three growing up and growing apart. Hanging on to the game means their relationship won't change.

I like the author's homage to storytelling whether intentional or not. Childhood imaginative storytelling has a creative abandonment that can be magical. As people get older their stories change and the magic can be lost such as it is for Zach's dad. The last pretend story I wrote was when I was 13 years old. I read it now and it doesn't make much sense but I am nostalgic for a time when I didn't self-edit my writing and be judgmental. Even now I keep thinking this review is a meandering mess and I should work on it again. Holly Black tells a terrific tale and she says in the notes that this was a story she had wanted to write for a long time. I wonder if when an author finishes the story it feels like a death and the doll being buried is also a symbol of the death of a story. Who knows? I do know I didn't want this tale to end and when I finished I turned around and started rereading it. Something I rarely do.  "That was why Zach loved playing those moments where it seemed like he was accessing some other world, one that felt real as anything. It was something he never wanted to give up." Books have become my adult imaginative playground where magic exists and anything is possible.

5 Smileys

Slither by Joseph Delaney

Tension; check. Monsters; check. Assassins; check.

I keep scratching my head as to what makes me pick up these horror books over and over. I'm the person who sits through horror movies with her eyes closed. Who gave up on "It" by Stephen King because it scared the sneakers off her feet. The one who had nightmares after seeing, "Jurassic Park." The person who lifts a Goosebumps book and drops it making the excuse she'll read it another time. For someone who doesn't do well with violence and gore, why do I keep having these sugar-like cravings for Delaney?

The books are a quick read. They are entertaining; I plow through ink in eager anticipation of the many bizarre monsters. They ooze tension in life and death situations and the females tend to be strong characters. Or maybe there is some latent Viking blood in me that secretly enjoys these books or the toned down children's version of the horror genre is more manageable for my touchy horror disposition. Whatever the reason, I have read ten of these books and will probably continue to do so even though I wonder why.

This book could stand alone from the series and seems like it might have a purpose in the eventual showdown with the Fiend. The Spook is not in it; only the witch, Grimalkin. The protagonist is an unemotional rat-like vampire, Slither, who alternates chapters with the voice of a human teenager, Nessa, who is at his mercy. Slither makes a deal with a farmer that his three daughters will not be bothered by him sneaking in at night to suck their blood if the father leaves the oldest to him after he dies. Every 40 years, Slither's government requires citizens to give them a female slave and Slither wants Nessa for this purpose.

When the father dies, the three daughters leave the farm with Slither. He has promised the farmer, who has provided him with wine and livestock blood over the years, to bring two of the daughters to their aunt and uncle. Once they set out one disaster after another strikes, leaving the group in multiple life-or-death situations. When Nessa saves Slithers life more than once, he finds himself acting in ways that are not "normal" for his species usual stoic murdering mentality.

The writing is functional - can't say I've scribbled any beautiful passages in my reading journal. Slither is a cold-blooded killer that would normally be a villain in most stories. He is bent on trying to not show weakness or be emotional, but he finds it hard to fight his feelings when Nessa shows unconditional love toward her sisters and bravery in battle. He is the character that struggles internally; moreso than Nessa. Her voice doesn't get the same page-time as Slither's. Readers might find Slither a hard character to connect with emotionally, but I found him curious. There are some nice plot twists that I didn't see coming, but I read the book in warp-speed so I wasn't on detail-mode. (And my detail-mode is not impressive even when I slow down.) Hence, you might see the plot twists coming.

This series reminds me a bit of "The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel" by Michael Scott, in that what was originally intended to be a smaller series has been stretched into one that goes on and on. Many of the books are separate adventures with the same characters. Seems like it should have ended a long time ago, but hey, I'm still reading them. Whatever. Like I said, I find them entertaining.

Action; check. Villains; check. Head scratch; check. Smile; check.

Reading Level 5.5
3 Smileys

Lure of the Dead (The Last Apprentice book 10)

Me loves a good scary monster! Delaney creates some awesome predators in his horror books. Book 10  of the Spook Series has Tom working more on his own as a Spook; he's no longer the apprentice. He has discovered that he must retrieve a sacred object and make a sacrifice of someone he loves before getting rid of the Fiend. I thought they had gotten rid of the Fiend when Grimalkin chopped off his head but, alas, he is not gone from the world. Even with his head in a sack being carried by Grimalkin, the Fiend can still speak out loud and manipulate his servants to pursue Alice, Tom, and Grimalkin in an attempt to attach his head to his body and achieve world dominance. Even his talking rotted head that resides in a sack can strike terror in the hearts of the heroes. Except Grimalkin. No one can scare Rambo-woman. She just sticks his head near the fire and toasts him a little to show who's in control. Gotta love that assassin. This sacred object/sacrifice of a loved-one quest looks like the storyline but it isn't so don't read it like I did thinking, "When are they gonna get the sacred object?" Instead this story is about Tom and the Spook going to fetch some books for a library only to find servants of the Fiend trying to bring forth powerful old gods of the dark to create an army to take over earth.

The strigoica and strigoi are the monsters this time with lizard-like vampire features and appetites. They move so fast that victims are dead before they can lift an arm to defend themselves. Tom continues to muse about how he has to use the dark to fight the dark. The Spook no longer gives speeches about the dangers of this, but then the Spook ends up in a horrible predicament that forces Tom to rescue him. He must enlist the help of one who betrayed them, along with Grimalkin and Alice. He is terrified that the prophecy of the Pendle Witches regarding  the Spook have come true.

Delaney does a great job with creating monsters, tension, and violence. This book has more decapitations than I can count, along with stabbings, and blood-sucking creatures. The prose is on the boring side and there was very little character development in this book. Actually there is very little seen of the character, Alice. I missed her. Her voice is different and she's more in-your-face sometimes good, sometimes bad. She's too good and accepting in this book. The Spook seemed out-of-character at the end giving up. I could buy him being weak from his ordeal but I couldn't buy him retreating so into himself. There needed to be a better explanation than just turning old.

This plot wasn't as unpredictable as others. It was pretty obvious the power of the Strigoica's illusion. As always, the monsters shine. They are creepy and unpredictable. They usually have something odd or different about them that makes them not quite your stock vampire or shape-shifter. This book is similar to the others but the plot wasn't as complex and the characters didn't have much internal changes as in previous ones. It was less interesting with the loss of the mentor-apprentice tension that came from Tom learning the trade. Instead the tension was supposed to come between Judd and Tom with his betrayal; however, Judd's situation was too horrible to hate him for his actions. That tension is filled up instead with nonstop action as the plot moves forward and beasts and monsters attack the heroes. Enjoy this fast read and don't read if you have a queasy stomach.

Reading Level 5.7
3 out of 5 Smileys

The Wooden Mile (Something Wickedly Weird bk #1) by Chris Mould

This weird, creepy book is going to appeal to some, but I don't think it is going to entice most readers. Stanley Buggles has inherited a house from an unknown relative in Crampton Rock, but the village is not quite right. People scuttle indoors when night falls, lookout towers are sprinkled here and there, and a talking taxidermied fish cautions Stanley against a lady who lives in the water. When Stanley discovers that a werewolf is on the loose he is recruited by pirates to kill it. Unbeknownst to him is that the pirates want the werewolf eliminated so they can ransack Stanley's home that hides a magic amulet hidden by his relative.

The narrator reflects the British author as he describes Stanley as a sensitive little chap and ink drawings made me think of Paul Stewart and Chris Riddell; however, this story is uniquely Chris Mould's. He has some gory descriptions such as the death of Stanley's relative, the pirates messed up body parts, the dogs missing limbs, and the skeleton in the cage. These descriptions add more horror to the story, but it is toned down with the pirates more doofuses than brutal killers, and the death of the werewolf not what it seems.

Stanley doesn't leap off the page as an interesting character. The weirdness of the story is what had me stay with it. Stanley does change from being fearful in the beginning to ingenious or able to solve his problems by the end. Spoiler alert* I don't know how to write about the plot without giving away too much so if you don't want to know what happens then skip to the last paragraph. The plot has some holes that are not explained such as the fish warning about some lady in the water, Stanley concerned about the gun instead of the man/werewolf he just killed, and Mr. Cake working in his shop and miraculously recovered from a bullet to the head. The amulet isn't explained either. The end leaves more questions than answers.

The narrator says in the beginning that this tale is dark and twisted and it is a good description of this story. A fast read if you are looking for something different and slightly ghoulish.

Reading Level 5.5
3 out of 5 Smileys

Deep and Dark and Dangerous: A Ghost Story by Mary Downing Hahn

Ali finds a ripped photo of her Aunt Dulcie, Mom Claire, and a mysterious girl whose name starts with the letter “T”. When Aunt Dulcie asks Ali to spend the summer at their lake home babysitting her daughter, four-year-old Emma, Ali uncovers the name of the girl in the photo and her tragic death 30 years ago. Emma makes friends with a girl named Sissy who tells her and Ali about the tragedy. Sissy is a spiteful girl and causes all sorts of trouble between Dulcie, Ali, and Emma. Will the family be able to resolve the past or will another tragedy happen?

This ghost story is a quick read. I thought the plot was predictable but I did like the twist at the end with Ali sympathizing with the ghost – going so far as to let her sleep in her bed. Ali changes from being angry to understanding why the people around her act the way they do. Dulcie and Claire are crippled by their past and don’t behave as good parents or adults. Claire is manipulative and Dulcie doesn’t listen or respect Ali. Emma was bratty and sweet. They were somewhat annoying characters which made it hard for me to get into the story. The author is good at writing ghost stories but I prefer the tension and characters Hahn’s previous books: The Doll in the Garden and Wait Till Helen Comes: A Ghost Story.

Reading Level 4.0
3 out of 5 Smileys

Rage of the Fallen by Joseph Delaney

In book 8 of the Last Apprentice series, Rage of the Fallen, by Joseph Delaney, Tom has landed in Ireland with the Spook and Alice where they intend to bind the Fiend who is the devil. Alice and Tom are bound together by a blood jar that protects them from the Fiend who wants to take their souls to Hell and torment them for eternity (that story is in book 4). When the blood jar cracks, their mission becomes more desperate as the Fiend is able to partially materialize before them. Ireland is a land of powerful magic and  Tom is being hunted not only by the Fiend, but a witch he thought he had helped Bill Akwright kill (book 5), Morrigan the powerful crow goddess witch, and mages who want to harness the power of the god, Pan, through an ancient ritual. Tom discovers an ancient and powerful sword that will aid him on his quest; plus, with the help of the witch assassin, Grimalkin, the three fight many adversaries in this action-packed horror story.

I don't like violent, horror stories but Delaney is an excellent writer with interesting plot twists and characters who struggle internally with the decisions they make. In this book, Celtic mythology is introduced and the Spook, who has been terribly upset by Tom's connections to the dark side, is less judgemental and not quite as black and white on the issue. At least he acknowledges when it has saved their lives and that the binding of the Fiend wouldn't have happened without the help of the dark witch Grimalkin. It doesn't make him happy, but at least he doesn't walk away. Alice's struggle with the dark side takes an intense turn in this story. She seems to be able to choose good when she is with Tom. I like how she represents a person's struggle with good and evil within themself. There are several symbolic images from Christianity used in the story. The goat that traps the essence of a god has a crown of thorns and must die at the hands of its enemies in order to be free just like Christ wore a crown of thorns and died on the cross unjustly. This seems to indicate the god represents goodness, but it isn't clear until the end of the story. There is also the Blade of Destiny that has eyes that cry tears of blood just as Christ sweat drops of blood as he prayed about his destiny on the cross. I might be way off on that one but it crossed my mind. The last Christian image is the way the devil had to be nailed to a rock through his hands and feet. Christ let his enemies nail him to the cross so he could defeat the devil. For the Fiend, it is a reversal of this. He must be nailed to a rock in order to bind sin versus Christ who set us free from sins. Interesting twist. Delaney was an English teacher before he became a writer and those teachers love symbolism - don't yah know ; )

I struggled the most with the violence in this story, but I sat with my eyes closed in "Saving Private Ryan" and parts of "Jurassic Park." If it doesn't bother you then you will like these books. I can't seem to put the books down even when a part of me wants to which is more of a testimony to Delaney's  good writing than anything. That said, there is a suicide, too many heads being chopped off, a human eating a chicken raw, a dead mans eye's pecked out by crows and a human sacrifice in an ancient ritual. The violence has picked up a few notches in the last few books making it more middle schoolish. The reading levels in the first six books are from 4-5; whereas the last two are in the 6's.

Reading Level 6.6

:-) :-) :-) 3.75 out of 5 Smileys

Full Tilt

Blake, Quinn, and two friends are at a carnival when Quinn decides to scale the roller coaster scaffolding to get his hat. He puts himself right in the path of a roller coaster. Blake climbs after him and saves his life.

Blake is always saving his reckless brother, Quinn. Blake is cautious while Quinn is out-of-control. When Blake gets an invitation to a midnight carnival from the mysterious Cassandra, it is Quinn who steals the invite and enters the carnival on his own. Anyone who enters this amusement center never leaves again. Blake goes to save his brother and discovers that he has to go on 7 deadly rides that are life or death. No one has survived and gotten out of the park. Can Blake make it through?

Shusterman is a great writer with strong character development. However some readers might be confused with the surreal nature of the rides that are part nightmare, part fantasy, part realistic.

This book is catagorized in grades 5-8 but I would put it with Young Adult due to some content such as the brother being rebelous and suicidal, the violence of the rides, and the abuse suggested toward the boys by Mom's boyfriends.

Reading Level 5.5

:-) :-) :-) 3 Smileys

Dread Locks

Parker Baer is rich and bored. Until Tara, the new girl, moves in next door. Baer meets her when she shows up in his bed just like Goldilocks. Only this Goldilocks is not scared by anyone and she is not just hungry for porridge. Tara's blond curls seem to be alive and she wears dark glasses all the time because of an "eye condition." When students start becoming ill at the school Parker notices that Tara is involved somehow. When Parker's brother gets sick he is convinced Tara is behind it.

The plot is predictable at first and you know that Tara is Medusa or one of the Gorgons from Greek mythology. The author skillfully unfolds this with tension and suspense so it is not boring. Then the plot starts twisting in unique ways at the end that aren't predictable. There is a lot of violence and the ending is not happy although Parker acts like a true Greek hero.

:-) :-) :-) 3.5 Smileys.

The Spook's Nightmare (book 7)

This is the 7th book in the Last Apprentice series. The title is different than the U.S. title called, Rise of the Huntress. This is the U.K. title or version.

Tom, an apprentice, and Alice are bound together by a blood jar. Tom has not told this to his master, The Spook, because he knows he will be angry about the use of dark magic by Alice to make the blood jar. There is never a good reason to use dark magic in the Spook's opinion, even if it saves your life. He's quite black and white on the issue.

In this book, Alice's mom, Lizzy, a powerful witch has escaped from the Spook's house. A Civil War has begun in the county and the Spook, Alice and Tom flee to a safer place.

Which isn't safe at all.

Lizzy is there on the island and a nasty creature called a Buggane. The Buggane sucks the soul from a person and then eats their body. This book is by far the most violent of the books with innocent girls being murdered as witches, animals mistreated, and witches lips sewn shut so they can't say any spells out loud.

There were a couple of times I didn't really get what the author was explaining. For instance, when Alice used a talon spell on Lizzy. He didn't explain how it slowed Lizzy down - except it just surprised her.

 I like how the dark and light magic symbolizes good and evil in the books and how people carry some of both. There is plenty of action and tension in the story.

Reading Level 5.6

:-) :-) :-) 3.5 Smileys