Author: Daniel Mayeri
Genre: mystery/graphic novel
Age range: middle grade
Similar book: the Bad Machinery series by John Allison
Summary (provided by publisher): Lucy and Frida Buford have never stepped foot outside their family farm in the Carolina Inner Banks. It’s the dead of July, and in the midst of yet another boring summer making jam for the family business, the girls are clamoring to be taken to the elusive town they’ve never been allowed to visit. Their father has always said that the outside world is a dangerous place, but danger is closer to home than they even know.
There’s something in the nearby woods uprooting trees, scaring fish from the water, and scratching at Lucy’s window in the middle of the night. Lucy can’t shake the feeling that there’s a monster out and about—one with two pointy fangs who only comes out at night.
It's up to these two sisters to discover what this monster wants. But the further they stray from home, the weirder things become. What’s really going on beyond the Buford family farm?
What I liked: This book finds a careful balance between the mysterious and the humorous. We have the central plot of Lucy and Frida which is largely atmospheric and spooky. But we also have the narration of the proprietors of the Bazaar and short bits of their narrative. This combination keeps the more serious central story from becoming too much for young readers. That central story is carefully paced and seeds small bits of the final reveal throughout.
What I didn't like: While the Bazaar story was interesting, the placement of those sections was at times disruptive. Because some of these sections are long it broke the flow of the farm story and I occasionally found it difficult to get back into the main story.
More Information: Down a Dark Path is the second book in the Bizarre Bazaar series.
Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley
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