ghosts – Page 5 – Mom Read It

The Girl from the Well brings Japanese folktales to America YA horror

Posted on July 23, 2015 by Rosemary Kiladitis

The Girl from the Well, by Rin Chupeco (Aug 2014, Sourcebooks), $16.99, ISBN: 978-1402292187

Recommended for ages 13+

Okiku is an avenging spirit – the restless ghost of a young girl betrayed and murdered long ago. She stalks child murderers and strikes without mercy, without pity, and releases the innocent souls held prisoner by their killers, watching them turn into fireflies as they finally know peace. She can never join them; her restless, agitated soul cannot find the peace she seeks. And then, Tarquin comes into her… well, afterlife.

Tarquin, or Tark, for short, is a teen with some baggage. His mother had him tattooed at the age of 5, something he tries desperately to hide from curious eyes. She’s locked away in a mental hospital and Tark’s father, a businessman always on the go, is raising him as best he can. Strange things have followed Tark his whole life – birds smashing into windows around him, accidents happening to kids around him, and even more terrifying, his own mother trying to kill him whenever he comes near her. Okiku sees Tark for the good kid that he is, but she also sees the terrifying spirit attached to the boy – and decides, for the first time, to reach out to him and help.

Anyone familiar with the Japanese horror movie, Ringu – or its American counterpart, The Ring – will have a strong idea of what this book is about. Japanese folklore and J-horror are both strong influences on this story, and will appeal to fans of both. There’s a strong story here, multilayered with a major plot and two subplots that the author weaves together to give readers an unsettling, creepy read.

I got a kick out of Tark. He battles the chaos around him with sarcasm and wisecracks. He does his best to keep the reality of his situation from his father, who really wouldn’t understand, no matter how much he loves his son and tries to be an involved dad. Okiku is a tragic figure, yet her anger and her strength make her a force to be reckoned with – you may feel for the circumstances that brought Okiku to where she is, but you will never pity her.

There are some disturbing things happening here, including depictions of sexual abuse and murder, so easily triggered or upset readers should seek their thrills elsewhere.

Fiction, Tween Reads

The Haunted Museum – a new series for fans who like scary history!

Posted on May 30, 2014 by Rosemary Kiladitis

The Haunted Museum #1: The Titanic Locket, by Suzanne Weyn (Scholastic, 2014). $6.99, ISBN: 9780545588423

Recommended for ages 8-12

Samantha and Jessica’s parents take them on a cruise on the Titanic 2, which will take the same route that the fated Titanic took in 1912. Right before they board, the visit the Haunted Museum, where they both touch a locket – despite reading the “DO NOT TOUCH” signs. Once they get on board, things get weird – their room number keeps changing, they hear a scratching and a crying at their door, and there seems to be a ghostly maid who has it in for Samantha? And how did the locket from the museum show up in Jessica’s bag?

I have to be honest, I was expecting a perfectly cute little middle-grade mystery when I picked up Haunted Museum #1, but got so much more. This book has some bite! There is some great historical background on Titanic in here (to satisfy any Common Core issues), including bits about the time period – clothes, people who sailed on the ship, and descriptions of the ship itself – especially that gorgeous Grand Staircase – really give the book life. I loved that the sisters actually got along, rather than falling back on the old love/hate sibling rivalry formula. There is a good mystery wrapped within a mystery here, too – it’s an all-around great read.

Kids in my library love mysteries and scary books, but they’ve gone through all the ABC Mysteries, Capital Mysteries, and Goosebumps books I’ve got. This will be a great new mystery to put on my shelf and get the kids enjoying for summer reading.

Preschool Reads

Book Review: The Spooky Hour, by Tony Mitton/illus. by Guy Parker-Rees (Orchard Books, 2004)

Posted on August 23, 2013 by Rosemary Kiladitis

Recommended for ages 3-7

Spooky Hour is a counting story – counting down, rather than a counting up – about a dog and a cat who witness spooky creatures on their way to a party at the strike of twelve. The dog and cat follow the creatures: eleven witches, ten ghosts, nine skeletons, and more, all the way to the spooky castle doors, where Mitch and Titch, the witchy twins, are waiting to welcome them to the big, spooky party, where they feast on one gigantic pumpkin pie. The cartoon illustrations are fun, even silly, but never scary, and younger audiences will enjoy the anticipation of counting down to the party. The full-bleed images have a great deal of action going on in the frames: flying ghosts, a line of skeletons dancing into a forest, observed by owls, trolls tromping through a forest as the cat and dog hide behind a log. The font is black or yellow – whatever needs to pop on the page’s background – and looks similar to a typewriter font.

The book has interactive elements that make it a good candidate for a Halloween read-aloud. The story itself is written in rhyme, and each creature has a sound attached to its action that audiences can mimic and act out: the witches shriek, the ghosts swirl,whirl, and say, “whoooo”, the skeletons dance and go clickety-clack. Attendees can come in costume and receive a trick or treat bag with some candy and a small toy, and there can be a jack-o-lantern craft for children to color. Time permitting, they can cut out shapes for jack-o-lantern faces and glue them on. Perpetual Preschool has Halloween songs that the children can sing after the story, and there are CDs with Halloween music, like Kids Bop Halloween, which can play during the craft time, and children can receive a Halloween hand stamp before they go home.

Fantasy, Tween Reads

The Graveyard Book, by Neil Gaiman (illus. by Dave McKean) (HarperCollins, 2008)

Posted on December 11, 2011May 10, 2012 by Rosemary Kiladitis

Recommended for ages 12+

Created from an idea author Neil Gaiman had in 1985 that would create a “Jungle Book in a graveyard”, The Graveyard Book tells the story of Nobody “Bod” Owens, orphaned as a toddler and raised by the ghosts of a graveyard he wanders into after his family is murdered. His guardian, Silas, is neither dead nor alive and can navigate both worlds in order to assure Nobody’s needs are taken care of.

The problem is, Jack – the man who murdered Nobody’s family – is still at large, and he’s still looking for Bod to finish his business. He’s working for a secret society who has ordered the boy’s death, but as long as Bod stays within the confines of the graveyard, he is safe. As he gets older, though, Nobody wants to venture outside and see more of the world and have human friends.

Like Coraline and Gaiman’s other work for younger readers, The Graveyard Book is a dark fantasy, yet he manages to make the fact that a boy is raised by ghosts and the undead charming. Nobody is a sweet boy who grows up loved for and cared for by the spirits of the graveyard in which he lives, and the supernatural beings – Silas and Bod’s tutor, Miss Lupescu – who are charged with his care. Mr. Gaiman’s descriptions again let the reader’s imagination run wild, with funny and wry descriptions of everyone from the inhabitants of the graveyard to the sinister murderer, Jack Frost.

The Graveyard Book received the 2009 Newbery Medal, Hugo Award for Best Novel, and Locus Award for Best Young Adult Book; it also won the 2010 Carnegie Medal.