A supremely successful, atmospheric tale of horror.
Micah must convince an old, haunted Victorian house to release its hold over her and her loved ones.
Eleven-year-old Micah has lived most of her life in her grandfather’s house. Now she and her mom are preparing to move an hour away. Not only does Micah worry about Poppop being alone, she’ll also miss their weekend trips going through other people’s trash in search of possible treasures. Biking through the streets to avoid packing, Micah notices the run-down and abandoned Finch House, which has a mysterious and sinister past. Though Poppop has forbidden her to go near it, she finds herself drawn to the place. To her surprise, Finch House has been renovated, and a boy named Theo tells her he and his family have moved in. Poppop arrives to collect Micah and is inexplicably terrified, abruptly ordering her into his truck. When Poppop goes missing a day later, Micah’s instincts lead her back to Finch House. Torn between keeping her promise to stay away from Finch House and searching it for Poppop, Micah accepts Theo’s invitation inside, where she learns that not only is it haunted, she is trapped! More than a mere ghost story, the brilliantly woven, engaging tale that unfolds is one of local disappearances, hidden family secrets, and trauma. Readers will be hooked as Micah attempts to escape Finch House’s grip. Micah and Poppop are Black; Theo is cued white.
A supremely successful, atmospheric tale of horror. (Horror. 8-13)Pub Date: Sept. 5, 2023
ISBN: 9781665930543
Page Count: 208
Publisher: McElderry
Review Posted Online: June 21, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Readers can still rely on this series to bring laughs.
The Heffley family’s house undergoes a disastrous attempt at home improvement.
When Great Aunt Reba dies, she leaves some money to the family. Greg’s mom calls a family meeting to determine what to do with their share, proposing home improvements and then overruling the family’s cartoonish wish lists and instead pushing for an addition to the kitchen. Before bringing in the construction crew, the Heffleys attempt to do minor maintenance and repairs themselves—during which Greg fails at the work in various slapstick scenes. Once the professionals are brought in, the problems keep getting worse: angry neighbors, terrifying problems in walls, and—most serious—civil permitting issues that put the kibosh on what work’s been done. Left with only enough inheritance to patch and repair the exterior of the house—and with the school’s dismal standardized test scores as a final straw—Greg’s mom steers the family toward moving, opening up house-hunting and house-selling storylines (and devastating loyal Rowley, who doesn’t want to lose his best friend). While Greg’s positive about the move, he’s not completely uncaring about Rowley’s action. (And of course, Greg himself is not as unaffected as he wishes.) The gags include effectively placed callbacks to seemingly incidental events (the “stress lizard” brought in on testing day is particularly funny) and a lampoon of after-school-special–style problem books. Just when it seems that the Heffleys really will move, a new sequence of chaotic trouble and property destruction heralds a return to the status quo. Whew.
Readers can still rely on this series to bring laughs. (Graphic/fiction hybrid. 8-12)Pub Date: Nov. 5, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-4197-3903-3
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Amulet/Abrams
Review Posted Online: Nov. 18, 2019
SEEN & HEARD
This delightful debut welcomes readers in like a house filled with love.
A 13-year-old biracial girl longs to build the house of her dreams.
For Lou Bulosan-Nelson, normal is her “gigantic extended family squished into Lola’s for every holiday imaginable.” She shares a bedroom with her Filipina mother, Minda—a former interior-design major and current nurse-to-be—in Lola Celina’s San Francisco home. From her deceased white father, Michael, Lou inherited “not-so-Filipino features,” his love for architecture, and some land. Lou’s quietude implies her keen eye for details, but her passion for creating with her hands resonates loudly. Pining for something to claim as her own, she plans to construct a house from the ground up. When her mom considers moving out of state for a potential job and Lou’s land is at risk of being auctioned off, Lou stays resilient, gathering support from both friends and family to make her dream a reality. Respicio authentically depicts the richness of Philippine culture, incorporating Filipino language, insights into Lou’s family history, and well-crafted descriptions of customs, such as the birdlike Tinikling dance and eating kamayan style (with one’s hands), throughout. Lou’s story gives voice to Filipino youth, addressing cultural differences, the importance of bayanihan (community), and the true meaning of home.
This delightful debut welcomes readers in like a house filled with love. (Fiction. 8-13)Pub Date: June 12, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-5247-1794-0
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Wendy Lamb/Random
Review Posted Online: March 3, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2018
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