fairy tale

Book Review: The Lost Girl

~ Beth Mitchell ~ 3 Comments

40221339._SY475_The Lost Girl by Anne Ursu has a terrific beginning: “The two sisters were alike in every way except for all the ways that they were different.”

Iris and Lark, we learn, are identical twins. They look alike, but they complement each other in personality. Iris is rational and organized. Lark is creative and intuitive. Iris speaks for Lark when she feels anxious, and Lark calms Iris down when she gets angry.

Since birth, they’ve been told that they have better outcomes together. Until this year. For the first time in fifth grade, they’ve been assigned to different classrooms. Their parents have even enrolled them in different after school programs. How are two girls who are better together meant to navigate life apart?

Meanwhile, a new antiques store has opened in Minneapolis. And things going missing all over town–from Iris’s favorite pin to Lark’s beloved stuffed animal to a famous modern art sculpture.

Are these events connected? And who is the mysterious first person narrator who sees so much?

As the narrator tells us in the very first chapter:

“This is a story of a sign and a store. Of a key. Of crows and shiny things. Of magic. Of bad decisions made from good intentions. Of bad guys with bad intentions. Of collective nouns, fairy tales, and backstories.

But most of all this is a story of the two sisters, and what they did when the monsters really came.”

And it’s a really good story. I highly recommend it.

Book Review: Nightbooks

~ Beth Mitchell ~ 12 Comments

35603805Nightbooks by J. A. White is a modern day Hansel and Gretel meets The Arabian Nights with a twist.

Alex feels like a weirdo because he writes scary stories in journals he calls his nightbooks. One night, he sneaks out in the middle of the night, determined to get rid of them once and for all. But the sound of his favorite horror movie lures him into a strange apartment, and he finds himself trapped by a real-life witch. This witch likes scary stories, and she’ll keep him alive as long as he comes up with a new one each night.

Some of the things I liked best about this book are:

  • The stories Alex tells the witch. Deliciously creepy.
  • The insights into Alex’s writing process, including his spark of inspiration, his understanding of interior logic, and his tips for overcoming writer’s block.
  • The witch’s magical apartment with doors that lead back into the same room, a black light nursery for exotic plants, and an enormous library with a spiral staircase!
  • Lenore, the witch’s cat, who can make herself invisible.
  • The growing friendship between Alex and the witch’s other prisoner, Yasmin.

Blaine would have loved this book when he was younger. Larrabee found it a bit too creepy. I would recommend it to kids who crave scary books, such as Adam Gidwitz’s A Tale Dark and Grimm, R. L. Stine’s Goosebumps series, or Alvin Schwartz’s Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark.