As always, Avi weaves accurate historical detail into his story and builds up tension expertly. Kenny escapes his dilemma by...
A suspenseful tale of multiple hauntings, time travel, and murder in old Rhode Island.
Young Kenny Huldorf’s room in an 18th-century Providence house comes complete with bloodstained floor and the ghost of Caleb, a slave murdered nearly 200 years ago. Naturally prompted to do some research in the local historical-society library, Kenny meets the crabbed, sinister Pardon Willinghast, who seems to know more about Kenny’s house than he’ll tell. Caleb appears repeatedly, claiming that he will never rest until his killer is discovered; he cajoles a reluctant Kenny into promising help, then takes him back to that fateful night in 1800 – whereupon, in effect, Kenny becomes the ghost. He also receives a dreadful shock: Willinghast is there, waiting for him – it seems that Caleb has brought back others before, but Willinghast is absolutely determined that Caleb should die. Kenny is given the same choice as his predecessors: kill Caleb or stay trapped in the past.
As always, Avi weaves accurate historical detail into his story and builds up tension expertly. Kenny escapes his dilemma by shooting Willinghast; he returns to the present confused, disturbed, and still haunted, this time by the memory of his own act of violence. The author presents this as a true story, told to him on a school visit by a young fan, and indeed it does have a realistically indeterminate end. A thoughtful, spooky, ingenious treat for ghost-story fans. (Fiction. 12-15)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 1988
ISBN: 0545214912
Page Count: 148
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: Oct. 27, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1988
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
A deliciously disturbing, twisted tale.
Teens endure fallout from a game of Bloody Mary.
Everybody’s done it at some point: You look in the mirror and repeat the name Bloody Mary. Sometimes, the legend says, you’ll see your true love. Sometimes they say you’ll see the ghost’s face, and it means you will die young. But these four fourth grade friends—Grace, Calvin, Elena, and Steph—didn’t count on their little game’s still affecting them five years later. They were just having some spooky fun in Elena’s deceased grandmother’s room, after all. But now, even after all these years have passed, each of them still sees a shape behind them whenever they look in a mirror. But the frights really begin when a new girl arrives at school. Her name is Mary. The author effectively and slowly ratchets the tension and dread, crafting some cleverly frightening sequences that fans of the genre will love. Less effective is the characterization: As each chapter pivots perspectives, some readers may have to double back and sort out which of the troubled teens they’re following. As the scares pile up and the descent into madness moves forward, the characterization gets a bit crisper, but the first few chapters may pose a bit of a hurdle. The novel’s conclusion is satisfactory, but the real highlights here are the spooky sequences. The teens are all presumed White.
A deliciously disturbing, twisted tale. (Horror. 12-15)Pub Date: Sept. 7, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-338-67927-4
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: June 28, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2021
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