MG – The Cursed Moon

Cervantes, Angela. The Cursed Moon. Scholastic Press, 2023. 978-1-338-81401-9. 224 p. $18.99. Grades 3-7.

Tell a great scary story, and you’re cool. Tell a great scary story under a cursed blood moon, and you’re also in big trouble. Sixth grade Rafa has found his niche in composing the best scary stories for his sister, Brianna, and new friends like Jayden. Together, Rafa and Brianna have moved in with their Abuelo and Abuela. Although their incarcerated mother, Nikki, is about to be released and return home, too, the impending reunion is met with anxiety and distrust by both siblings. In the days leading up to Nikki’s return, an older neighbor gives Rafa an ominous warning not to tell any of his scary stories under that night’s blood moon. Despite this plea, Rafa shares a terrifying tale with friends that night: The story of a spirit named the Caretaker who lures people into a local park’s pond to die. Unfortunately, Rafa should have listened to his neighbor. Now, it is too late. The Caretaker has come to life, and it is searching for new lives to claim. Rafa will have to figure out how to make this story have a happy ending…quickly.

THOUGHTS: The Cursed Moon contains just the right combination of creepy details and caring characters for a middle grade reader to thoroughly enjoy. While some of the focus is on the supernatural story action, Cervantes also weaves in lots of great realistic details that help fully form the characters of Rafa and Brianna. Pieces read like a realistic fiction story. At just over 200 pages, this is also an accessible book for developing middle grade readers who like a good thrill and chill!

Elem. – The Skull

Klassen, Jon. The Skull. Candlewick Press, 2023. 978-1-536-22336-1. 105 p. $15.36  Grades 1-4.

Otilla runs away from home. The reason is never explained to the reader–she just runs through the forest and into a clearing where she finds a house… that she discovers is inhabited by a skull. A skull who has been alone for many, many years. The skull invites Otilla into his home, and they explore the house together, discovering a fireplace room, garden room, dungeon, ball room, and tower. Along the way, Otilla helps the skull by carrying him through the house, picking him a pear, brewing tea, and lighting a fire. As night falls, the skull confesses that he is chased nightly by a headless skeleton. Otilla, undeterred, stays the night, and using her wits and her newfound knowledge of the house, defeats the skeleton and cements her unlikely friendship with the skull as well as their future together.  

THOUGHTS: Otilla is a plucky heroine with broad appeal, and her story is great for young readers seeking fun with a bit of a thrill or simply interested in a good folktale. The illustrations, in black and gray with warm lighting in shades of orange, add intrigue to the words on the page. Libraries with early elementary students looking for spooky stories will find a home for this book on their shelves… if it stays there!

Picture Book

MG – Scary Stories for Young Foxes: The City

Heidicker, Christian McKay. Scary Stories for Young Foxes: The City. Henry Holt and Company, 2021. 978-1-25018-144-2. 386 p. $17.99. Grades 5-8.

O-370 only knows of life on the farm. The elder foxes tell him stories about wild foxes who have adventures beyond anything he can imagine. O-370 and his cousin, R-211 dream of having their own adventures like Mia and Uly, the foxes they hear about in the stories. Even though they want to have adventures, they also know that the farm is a good place for them. All the foxes who live here get food twice a day and have a warm place to sleep. Best of all, when they are done at the farm, they get to go to The Barn, a special place where foxes eat centipedes all day and play with all the foxes that have gone before them. One night, O-370 is desperate for an adventure and slips out of his cage to explore The Barn. What he discovers sends him running into the forest and to the edge of the nearby city. After meeting a group of tough city foxes, O-370 realizes he may not have the skills to survive away from the farm. O-370 decides he must use the strategies in the stories he heard as a young kit to survive in the city.

THOUGHTS: In the follow-up novel to Scary Stories for Young Foxes, author Heidicker follows a similar format. He intersperses the story of O-370 with an older fox storyteller who is relaying O-370’s story to kits. Fans of his first novel will be happy to see previous characters Mia, Uly, Beatrix Potter, and others make appearances throughout the book. This book is a great addition to middle grade libraries, especially for young fans of horror and animal stories.

Horror/Fantasy          Danielle Corrao, Manheim Central SD

MG – Gloom Town

Smith, Ronald. L. Gloom Town.  Clarion Books, 2020. 978-1-328-84161-2. 269 p. $16.99. Grades 5-7.

Smith’s latest work is a mixture of horror and fantasy. Twelve year old Rory lives with his mother in the town of Gloom in Europica. In this seafaring town, the flowers are wilted, and it is always overcast. To help with the family’s dire financial situation, Rory takes a job as a valet in the spooky Foxglove Mansion. He quickly learns that something sinister is going on there after meeting the unfriendly butler Malvonius and the eccentric Lord Foxglove. After hearing mysterious sounds coming from behind a red door in the mansion, Rory begins having dreams about a strange woman’s voice coming from a dark mist, who hungers and thirsts. When the butler learns that Rory has discovered a human heart buried in the garden, he barely escapes from the mansion with his life.  With the help of his friend Izzy, a tarot card reading witch, Rory uncovers the dark secrets that are hidden in the mansion and learns about the diabolical plans that are being devised. And when a huge brigantine ship docks in the harbor, Rory learns something about himself that changes his life forever.

THOUGHTS: This book is a bit of a chameleon. The benign looking cover and the likeable main characters seem to put it in the fantasy genre. However, there are some horrific plot elements in the book, such as two murders, including that of a child, that appear to be out of balance with a fantasy and make the story more creepy. The reader may think that these macabre incidents will all be explained away like a Scooby Doo cartoon, but they are not. The book would benefit from better development of the background of the evil supernatural creatures and their effect on the town, as well as that of a mythic figure named Goldenrod. This is a Junior Library Guild selection. Purchase for middle school libraries where horror stories or books by the author are popular.

Horror, Fantasy          Denise Medwick, Retired, PSLA Member