Author: Nick Lake
Genre: fantasy/mild horror
Similar books: This Appearing House by Ally Malinenko
Coraline by Neal Gaiman
Rating:
.JPG)
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.
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