Come for spooky action, stay for the robust cast.
A girl with anxiety stumbles upon an actual haunted mansion.
Even though her therapy is going well, 16-year-old Audrey Perez isn’t looking forward to the beyond-nerves that her anxiety will give her as she starts a new school, having moved from the suburbs into New Orleans proper. Worse, she won’t have her boyfriend, Chase, there to protect her from the world. Luckily, right off the bat she befriends Tatum, an outgoing girl from Scotland, and Iris, a wryly funny Black girl. When Audrey, whose family emigrated from Spain centuries ago, finds an abandoned manor house in the neighborhood, she lets her new friends in on it. Filmmaker Iris knows she’s found a compelling subject. But after her first brush with the paranormal, Audrey starts to experience happenings outside of the mansion—ghostly possessions that lead her to mysterious keys. As the girls investigate, they notice chills in the air and sense that something bad is coming. This mysterious new threat is dangerous enough that even the ghosts dread it. The paranormal storyline has some strong moments, but readers primarily seeking thrills may feel the story’s action is overshadowed by the characters’ interpersonal dynamics. Audrey and Chase’s relationship reveals red flags alongside moments of genuine sweetness and ends on a healthy, mature, nuanced note. Audrey’s friendships are impacted by her expertly depicted anxiety and showcase healthy bonds. Disney fans will adore the care put in capturing details of the Haunted Mansion.
Come for spooky action, stay for the robust cast. (Paranormal. 12-16)Pub Date: Aug. 29, 2023
ISBN: 9781368076067
Page Count: 432
Publisher: Disney Press
Review Posted Online: July 13, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Characters to love, quips to snort at, insights to ponder: typical Spinelli.
For two teenagers, a small town’s annual cautionary ritual becomes both a life- and a death-changing experience.
On the second Wednesday in June, every eighth grader in Amber Springs, Pennsylvania, gets a black shirt, the name and picture of a teen killed the previous year through reckless behavior—and the silent treatment from everyone in town. Like many of his classmates, shy, self-conscious Robbie “Worm” Tarnauer has been looking forward to Dead Wed as a day for cutting loose rather than sober reflection…until he finds himself talking to a strange girl or, as she would have it, “spectral maiden,” only he can see or touch. Becca Finch is as surprised and confused as Worm, only remembering losing control of her car on an icy slope that past Christmas Eve. But being (or having been, anyway) a more outgoing sort, she sees their encounter as a sign that she’s got a mission. What follows, in a long conversational ramble through town and beyond, is a day at once ordinary yet rich in discovery and self-discovery—not just for Worm, but for Becca too, with a climactic twist that leaves both ready, or readier, for whatever may come next. Spinelli shines at setting a tongue-in-cheek tone for a tale with serious underpinnings, and as in Stargirl (2000), readers will be swept into the relationship that develops between this adolescent odd couple. Characters follow a White default.
Characters to love, quips to snort at, insights to ponder: typical Spinelli. (Fiction. 12-15)Pub Date: Aug. 3, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-593-30667-3
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: May 31, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2021
The Phantom of the Opera served as inspiration, but this wouldn’t last on Broadway.
Stephanie and her family move into an old mansion rumored to have been put under a curse after a turn-of-the-20th-century rich boy meddled with an Egyptian mummy.
After her young sister complains about strange events, high school student Stephanie befriends Lucas, a geeky, good-looking boy, and meets the other members of SPOoKy, the Scientific Paranormal Organization of Kentucky: Charlotte, Wes, and Patrick. Stephanie learns the history of her new home from Lucas, who attracts her romantic attention, but the usually levelheaded girl is soon drawn to Erik, the handsome phantom who first comes to her in dreams. The story is told in chapters narrated by Stephanie, Lucas, and Zedok, whose identity is initially a source of confusion to Stephanie. Zedok appears wearing different masks, “personified slivers” of his soul, representing states of mind such as Wrath, Madness, and Valor. Meanwhile, until gifted singer Stephanie came along and he could write songs for her, Erik’s dreams were thwarted; he wanted to be a composer but his family expected him to become a doctor. In the gothic horror tradition, Erik’s full background and connection with Zedok are slowly revealed. Romantic dream sequences are lush and swoon-y, but the long, drawn-out battle to end the curse, aided by a celebrity clairvoyant, is tedious, and the constant introduction of Erik’s different personae is confusing. Most characters default to White; Patrick is Black.
The Phantom of the Opera served as inspiration, but this wouldn’t last on Broadway. (Horror. 13-16)Pub Date: Aug. 17, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-593-11604-3
Page Count: 528
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: May 26, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2021
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