Book review - Lily and the Night Creatures

 

Title: Lily and the Night Creatures

Author: Nick Lake

Genre: fantasy/mild horror

Similar books:  This Appearing House by Ally Malinenko

                      Coraline by Neal Gaiman

Rating: 

 

more thought provoking than scary

 

Summary (provided by publisher): Lily is used to hospitals—she’s spent more time in them than out of them thanks to her recent health issues. But when her mother goes into labor, her parents drop her off at her grandmother’s house and rush to the hospital without her. Lily doesn’t want the new baby to replace her and she certainly doesn’t want to be sick anymore.
Most frustrating of all, she forgot to pack Willo, her favorite toy. Under her grandma’s not-so-watchful supervision, Lily sneaks back home to get Willo. Expecting to find an empty house, she is surprised to find her parents there. But something isn’t right... They look just like her mom and dad until she gets closer and sees their coal black eyes. And they refuse to let her in—it’s their house now.
With the help of some surprising new friends that she meets in her garden, Lily is determined to beat these shadowy replacements and be reunited with her real parents. But is she strong enough to triumph?

My opinion: I can certainly understand what Lake is going for here. Many middle grade readers love a scary story. It's why books like the Goosebumps series persist. Lake is trying to give us the scare with something more. To go beyond a simple monster tale or a series of jump scares overcome by pluck and stubbornness. This book is trying to elevate. Lily has real problems between chronic illness and an underlying fear that she is no longer enough for her parents. It doesn't take much interpretation to understand that the creatures in her house, while 'real' monsters, are also a stand-in for her problems. They are the physical representation of her personal problems. That makes this book more emotionally complex, perhaps, but rather less scary. This is a book I'd recommend to a kid who wants to explore literary devices more than one looking for a scare.

Note cards

 I've been trying to catch up on some correspondence, so I made this pair of cards this weekend to send to some friends. Since it's October, I decided to make them fall themed.

Pick 6: Ghosts

Culturally, we have something of an obsession with ghosts. Sometimes it's a malicious haunting. Others, it's a spirit imparting wisdom to the living. These stories run the gamut from scary to funny and appeal to a wide ranging audience. Here are six books featuring ghosts published in the past six months.

Six new books featuring ghosts:

1. Monsters in the Mist by Juliane Brandt
2. The Clackity by Lora Senf
3. Raising the Horseman by Serena Valentino
4. Ghostlight by Kenneth Oppell
5. Boo! Hiss! by Cyndi Marko
6. Spooky Sleuths: The Ghost Tree by Natasha Deen
   

Book review - The Stars Did Wander Darkling

 Title: The Stars Did Wander Darkling

Author: Colin Meloy

Genre: horror

Similar books: Monsters in the Mist by Juliana Brandt

                      Dead Flip by Sara Farizan

Rating:

 

a good level of tension

 

Summary (provided by publisher): Maybe Archie Coomes has been watching too many horror movies.
All of a sudden, the most ordinary things have taken on a sinister edge: a penny on a doormat. An odd man in a brown suit under a streetlamp. The persistent sound of an ax chopping in the middle of the night.
He keeps telling himself that this is Seaham, a sleepy seaside town where nothing ever happens. Or at least nothing did, until his dad’s construction company opened up the cliff beneath the old—some say cursed—Langdon place.
Soon, though, he and his friends can’t deny it: more and more of the adults in town are acting strangely. An ancient, long-buried evil has been unleashed upon the community, and it’s up to the kids to stop it before it’s too late. . . .

My opinion: This book is being compared to "Stranger Things" and with good reason. Not only does it share a time period and a cast of middle school kids banding together, it shares the same sort of atmosphere. We have a deep, ancient evil, reminiscent of Lovecraft. The town is an increasingly unsettling place, the kids the only ones who seem to be aware that something is wrong. It's pretty standard middle grade horror stuff. There are a number of rather strange details and the characters are not as well developed as I might have preferred. But the set up is a decent one and makes for good reading, especially for a kid interested in details off the beaten path.

Upcycled basket

 Like a lot of people who knit or crochet, I have a lot of scraps of yarn too small to make a whole project. It seems like a shame to throw these odds and ends away so I end up tucking them away in hopes that I will find a use for them. I'd built up a large enough stash that I tied them together into what I've learned some people call Franken-yarn. I crocheted a three-strand chain of these mismatched yarns and sewed that chain into a coil basket. It's large and a little floppy, perfect for storing mending or other in-progress projects.

Book review - The Weight of Blood

 

Title: The Weight of Blood

Author: Tiffany D. Jackson

Genre: horror

Similar books: Mirror Girls by Kelly McWilliams

                     Ace of Spades by Faridah Abike-Iyimide

Rating: 

 

offers more than simple scares

Summary (provided by publisher): When Springville residents—at least the ones still alive—are questioned about what happened on prom night, they all have the same explanation . . . Maddy did it.
An outcast at her small-town Georgia high school, Madison Washington has always been a teasing target for bullies. And she's dealt with it because she has more pressing problems to manage. Until the morning a surprise rainstorm reveals her most closely kept secret: Maddy is biracial. She has been passing for white her entire life at the behest of her fanatical white father, Thomas Washington.
After a viral bullying video pulls back the curtain on Springville High's racist roots, student leaders come up with a plan to change their image: host the school's first integrated prom as a show of unity. The popular white class president convinces her Black superstar quarterback boyfriend to ask Maddy to be his date, leaving Maddy wondering if it's possible to have a normal life.
But some of her classmates aren't done with her just yet. And what they don't know is that Maddy still has another secret . . . one that will cost them all their lives.

My opinion: Let's get the obvious out of the way first - this is clearly inspired by Carrie. The book even acknowledges the parallels. It just goes far beyond the idea of a cowed girl pushed past her breaking point. It asks us to consider if there is any understandable excuse for an act of violence. It asks us to consider all forms of racism and the ways that they destroy. It asks us to consider how expectations are different based on gender, all forms of privilege and oppression. The things we fear and the freedom that comes with giving them a platform. And ultimately, what true justice looks like. This is not a comfortable read. There is stark violence and truly gruesome imagery. And the level of introspection it asks of us can make a person uneasy. But it's absolutely worth it.

Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley

Graphic novel spotlight - The Adventures of Superhero Girl

 

The Adventures of Superhero Girl by Faith Erin Hicks

Maybe you're like me. Maybe you really like superheroes but find Marvel and DC a bit intimidating what with all of the interwoven stories built on decades of backstory. And maybe you like a little bit of humor in your reading instead of pathos all the time. If so, Superhero Girl might be for you. In this series of vignettes, we see the titular hero trying to balance being a hero with her everyday life. She battles evil, sure, but she also has to do her laundry, try to have a social life, and deal with her relationship with her much more well-liked and successful older brother. It's not just silliness, of course. It's just that the depth comes more from the "girl" side of things than the "superhero". At turns fun and serious, this is a great book to read and re-read.