Sweet meets spooky—and it’s absolutely spectacular.
An aspiring 13-year-old ghost hunter takes on her first real case.
A month ago, The Incident upended Luna Catalano’s life. She exposed her home improvement influencer moms—who claim to flip haunted houses—for faking the hauntings. That’s how the family ended up in Ohio, living at 5753 Shadyside Avenue: “the least haunted house Luna had ever seen.” But she finds that looks can be deceiving. As well as dealing with her irritable bowel syndrome, which is aggravated by stress, she keeps experiencing odd, disruptive occurrences. First, a strange voice keeps saying, “Welcome home.” Then, Luna sees “GET OUT” written in blood on the ceiling. The mysterious happenings continue, and eventually, the house’s very real ghosts turn violent. With help from sibling neighbors Dani and Mateo Moreno, can Luna save her family—and herself—before it’s too late? Pucella Winans’ latest is a love letter to ghost stories and those who believe in them—especially queer kids. The five embedded short stories are pitch-perfect in tone, slowly building the novel’s eerie lore alongside the unfolding plot, which contains occasional humor. Through her art, Luna realizes that she might like girls—growth that beautifully mirrors Dani’s coming out as nonbinary. Dani’s strict adherence to the scientific method also teaches Luna valuable lessons about jumping to conclusions when it comes to friendships. The Morenos are Latine. Luna is cued white, like one of her moms; her other mom has Italian and Brazilian heritage.
Sweet meets spooky—and it’s absolutely spectacular. (Horror. 9-12)Pub Date: Sept. 30, 2025
ISBN: 9781547616343
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Review Posted Online: July 3, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2025
However the compelling fitness of theme and event and the apt but unexpected imagery (the opening sentences compare the...
At a time when death has become an acceptable, even voguish subject in children's fiction, Natalie Babbitt comes through with a stylistic gem about living forever.
Protected Winnie, the ten-year-old heroine, is not immortal, but when she comes upon young Jesse Tuck drinking from a secret spring in her parents' woods, she finds herself involved with a family who, having innocently drunk the same water some 87 years earlier, haven't aged a moment since. Though the mood is delicate, there is no lack of action, with the Tucks (previously suspected of witchcraft) now pursued for kidnapping Winnie; Mae Tuck, the middle aged mother, striking and killing a stranger who is onto their secret and would sell the water; and Winnie taking Mae's place in prison so that the Tucks can get away before she is hanged from the neck until....? Though Babbitt makes the family a sad one, most of their reasons for discontent are circumstantial and there isn't a great deal of wisdom to be gleaned from their fate or Winnie's decision not to share it.
Pub Date: Nov. 1, 1975
ISBN: 0312369816
Page Count: 164
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: April 13, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 1975
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
Charming, poignant, and thoughtfully woven.
An aspiring scientist and a budding artist become friends and help each other with dream projects.
Unfolding in mid-1980s Sacramento, California, this story stars 12-year-olds Rosalind and Benjamin as first-person narrators in alternating chapters. Ro’s father, a fellow space buff, was killed by a drunk driver; the rocket they were working on together lies unfinished in her closet. As for Benji, not only has his best friend, Amir, moved away, but the comic book holding the clue for locating his dad is also missing. Along with their profound personal losses, the protagonists share a fixation with the universe’s intriguing potential: Ro decides to complete the rocket and hopes to launch mementos of her father into outer space while Benji’s conviction that aliens and UFOs are real compels his imagination and creativity as an artist. An accident in science class triggers a chain of events forcing Benji and Ro, who is new to the school, to interact and unintentionally learn each other’s secrets. They resolve to find Benji’s dad—a famous comic-book artist—and partner to finish Ro’s rocket for the science fair. Together, they overcome technical, scheduling, and geographical challenges. Readers will be drawn in by amusing and fantastical elements in the comic book theme, high emotional stakes that arouse sympathy, and well-drawn character development as the protagonists navigate life lessons around grief, patience, self-advocacy, and standing up for others. Ro is biracial (Chinese/White); Benji is White.
Charming, poignant, and thoughtfully woven. (Fiction. 9-12)Pub Date: Jan. 12, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-06-300888-5
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Quill Tree Books/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Oct. 26, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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