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HAUNT AND SEEK

From the Haunted States of America series , Vol. 3

A quick read for those looking to be slightly creeped out.

A brother and sister embark on a ghastly undertaking.

Japanese American siblings Ben and Lola Tajima are visiting their grandparents in their new home in Chicago. The concise text narrates in the third person through Ben’s perspective as the two endure a five-hour bus ride from their home in Columbus, Ohio, and are greeted by their grandparents with a long itinerary of fun-filled days. During one outing, Ben unearths a small silver boat out of the mud. Later that night, the ghost of a young boy appears, urging Ben to “come find me” in subsequent visits. When a tour guide on another outing relates the story of the SS Eastland boat disaster, which resulted in over 800 deaths, Ben wonders if somehow the ghost and the disaster are connected. Thoroughly spooked, Ben tells his family of his visitor and finds he cannot rid himself of the toy boat or the ghost. As the siblings work toward bringing the ghost peace, Ivy’s black-and-white cartoon illustrations bring context to the story. Ben and Lola’s grandparents are first-generation Japanese immigrants, and readers familiar with the culture may notice some details are off. Troupe gives more details of the SS Eastland disaster in the author’s note. Another entry in the Haunted States of America series, The Dead Below: A Pennsylvania Ghost Story, publishes simultaneously.

A quick read for those looking to be slightly creeped out. (Paranormal suspense. 8-11)

Pub Date: Jan. 1, 2021

ISBN: 978-1-63163-475-8

Page Count: 136

Publisher: North Star Editions

Review Posted Online: Nov. 17, 2020

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2020

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RACE FOR THE RUBY TURTLE

A wild romp that champions making space for vulnerable creatures and each other.

A boy with ADHD explores nature and himself.

Eleven-year-old Jake Rizzi just wants to be seen as “normal”; he blames his brain for leading him into trouble and making him do things that annoy his peers and even his own parents. Case in point: He’s stuck spending a week in rural Oregon with an aunt he barely knows while his parents go on vacation. Jake’s reluctance changes as he learns about the town’s annual festival, during which locals search for a fabled turtle. But news of this possibly undiscovered species has spread. Although Aunt Hettle insists to Jake that it’s only folklore, the fame-hungry convene, sure that the Ruby-Backed Turtle is indeed real—just as Jake discovers is the case. Keeping its existence secret is critical to protecting the rare creature from a poacher and others with ill intentions. Readers will keep turning pages to find out how Jake and new friend Mia will foil the caricatured villains. Along the way, Bramucci packs in teachable moments around digital literacy, mindfulness, and ecological interdependence, along with the message that “the only way to protect the natural world is to love it.” Jake’s inner monologue elucidates the challenges and benefits of ADHD as well as practical coping strategies. Whether or not readers share Jake’s diagnosis, they’ll empathize with his insecurities. Jake and his family present white; Mia is Black, and names of secondary characters indicate some ethnic diversity.

A wild romp that champions making space for vulnerable creatures and each other. (Adventure. 8-11)

Pub Date: Oct. 3, 2023

ISBN: 9781547607020

Page Count: 336

Publisher: Bloomsbury

Review Posted Online: Aug. 11, 2023

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2023

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MISFIT MANSION

A warm play on the theme of inclusivity, with horrors more huggable than otherwise.

A sheltered young monster discovers that the world isn’t as hostile to her kind as she had been led to believe.

Readers who like their monsters cute as well as scary are in for a treat, as Davault fills her panels and montages with the (mostly) humanoid but variously horned, clawed, fanged, and multiheaded inhabitants of Mr. Halloway’s Home for Horrors. They possess expressive faces, stylishly disarranged bangs (or, as the case may be, tentacles), and distinctly childlike ways. Blue-skinned, tufty-tailed Iris has always been told by (human) Mr. Halloway that he is protecting her and her fellow creatures in his isolated manor house from being hunted down. But when she takes advantage of a rare chance to venture into nearby Dead End Springs, she gets a warm welcome—from everyone except Mathias, an orphan raised by his traumatized aunt to believe that monsters are dangerous. Some actually are, it turns out…but after the frightening dolls one horror creates sell like hotcakes to the delighted locals and Iris’ companions help to save the town from an escaped dreamon who has turned into a nightmare, even Mathias comes around. Better yet, Iris emerges with her yearning to belong to a family fulfilled by the discovery that she has really been living with one all along, and she joins her housemates in turning the mansion into a monster hotel.

A warm play on the theme of inclusivity, with horrors more huggable than otherwise. (author’s note, concept art) (Graphic fantasy. 8-11)

Pub Date: July 25, 2023

ISBN: 9781665903080

Page Count: 304

Publisher: Atheneum

Review Posted Online: April 24, 2023

Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2023

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