As in some of the author’s previous books, this one involves a capable young woman pitted against an angry ghost that has unresolved issues. Jenny, 15, her widower father, and younger sister have moved for the fifth time in seven years to a quaint, creepy little clearing where theirs is one of only five homes. Almost at once the haunting begins when shadowy specters (a man and a little dog) hover in the dusk on their front porch. Other eerie incidents occur every day and as Jenny deciphers the mystery, she discovers a dark secret about her crabby elderly neighbors who are getting the worst of the ghost’s wrath. Afraid it will lead to another move, Jenny tells her father nothing of her discovery; instead she tries to befriend the new neighbor, a talented violin player in whose basement are heard disconsolate sobs. As the story heads for the gripping climax, Jenny learns she has some talent of her own, including bravery and intelligence. This absorbing novel has truly frightening moments, but readers will feel safe in the hands of its skillful author. A spooky read for a rainy night. (Fiction. 8-12)
Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2000
ISBN: 0-590-25237-2
Page Count: 181
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2000
PLB 0-688-13166-2 King Midas And The Golden Touch ($16.00; PLB $15.63; Apr.; 32 pp.; 0-688-13165-4; PLB 0-688-13166-2): The familiar tale of King Midas gets the golden touch in the hands of Craft and Craft (Cupid and Psyche, 1996). The author takes her inspiration from Nathaniel Hawthorne’s retelling, capturing the essence of the tale with the use of pithy dialogue and colorful description. Enchanting in their own right, the illustrations summon the Middle Ages as a setting, and incorporate colors so lavish that when they are lost to the uniform gold spurred by King Midas’s touch, the point of the story is further burnished. (Picture book. 7-9)
Pub Date: April 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-688-13165-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Morrow/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 1999
Lunge-Larsen and Preus debut with this story of a flower that blooms for the first time to commemorate the uncommon courage of a girl who saves her people from illness. The girl, an Ojibwe of the northern woodlands, knows she must journey to the next village to get the healing herb, mash-ki- ki, for her people, who have all fallen ill. After lining her moccasins with rabbit fur, she braves a raging snowstorm and crosses a dark frozen lake to reach the village. Then, rather than wait for morning, she sets out for home while the villagers sleep. When she loses her moccasins in the deep snow, her bare feet are cut by icy shards, and bleed with every step until she reaches her home. The next spring beautiful lady slippers bloom from the place where her moccasins were lost, and from every spot her injured feet touched. Drawing on Ojibwe sources, the authors of this fluid retelling have peppered the tale with native words and have used traditional elements, e.g., giving voice to the forces of nature. The accompanying watercolors, with flowing lines, jewel tones, and decorative motifs, give stately credence to the story’s iconic aspects. (Picture book/folklore. 4-8)
Pub Date: March 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-395-90512-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 1999
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