Nightbooks

White, J.A.  Nightbooks
July 24th 2018 by Katherine Tegen Books
E ARC from Edelweiss Plus

Alex ventures down to the basement of his apartment building to burn his creepy short stories that he feels make him a weird outsider, and he hears his favorite movie playing in an apartment when the elevator stops on the wrong floor. Even though he knows better, he knocks on the door, and when the woman who answers invites him in, he enters her apartment. Too late! She's Natacha, an evil witch who kidnaps and enslaves children, and now he is stuck! She intends to keep him, and Alex worries that he will never get home to his family. He soon meets Yasmin, who has been captive for some time. She is quiet about the fate of the other children also captured by Natacha, but does give Alex some helpful advice to keep him alive. The biggest piece is that Natacha loves stories, since they seem to quiet the problematic, magical apartment. Alex tells the stories he has with him, and is supposed to be writing every day, but he finds himself unable to do so. Eventually, some of the evil creatures in the apartment destroy his stories, and he must finally do some writing. He and Yasmin read books in the witch's library and try to figure out a way that they might be able to escape. Will they be successful, or will they find themselves in the situation of the children who were captured and who are no longer in the apartment?
Strengths: One of the things my readers want? Kidnapping tales! Weird, but true. The only short story collections that do well? Scary stories! This combines both beautifully, with a dark, fairy tale twist. I liked that there was a little bit of hope that they could escape, even though Yasmin had been there for a while. The ending was particularly fun.
Weaknesses: The cover makes this look like it would be more like Prineas' new Scroll of Kings rather than a scary tale, but I don't know what else could have been done. Maybe a bit of a nod to Hansel and Gretel and the witch's gingerbread house?
What I really think: I need to brush off Nance's Daemon Hall (2007) when school starts. I don't know that it circulated at all this year, but it is a similar title that will be good to hand to readers after they finish this shiny new book!