THE BOY OF A THOUSAND FACES

Selznick (Barnyard Prayers, p. 120, etc.) illustrates this beguiling tale of a monster-mad lad with a mix of lurid film stills and masterfully rendered, dramatically under-lit portraits in pencil. Inspired by the classic movies of horrormeister Lon Chaney, Halloween-born fifth grader Alonzo so yearns to be known as “The Boy Of A Thousand Faces” that he’s compiling a photo album of self-portraits in monster makeup. In the end his dream comes true, in a way, after vague but chilling rumors of a strange beast in town propel Alonzo to instant notoriety as a monster expert and one of his Polaroids is printed in the newspaper as a purported picture of the prowler. This inspires nearly every local trick-or-treater to dress as a monster come Halloween. Who is responsible for this amazing happening? Ah, only the Shadow knows. Readers will practically hear the sinister organ music rising behind this tribute to the ghoulish delights of monster mania and those old black and white screamers—the cover and the interior illustrations guarantee a ready-made audience. Nicely done. (Fiction. 9-11)