E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus
August 27, 2024 by Balzer + Bray
Melur, who lives in Malaysia, desperately wanted to attend Camp Apple Tree Farm in the US, and manages to talk her mother into this by suggesting her camping experience ties in with visiting a cousin in New York. Camp isn't exactly what she wanted, however, and she finds herself wandering in the woods as the "dare" portion of a truth or dare game with her cabin mates. She is creeped out by the experience, and sure enough, comes across the witch's cabin. She is invited in, and the witch tells her this harrowing tale.
Alia's family has moved from Kuala Lumpur to rural Negeri Sembilan for her father's new job as a university professor. His specialty is Nusantara culture and the Malay shadow theater, so he has a large collection of puppets in the home. Alia, who has always been haunted by her own bad luck, having been born on Friday the 13th, often feels a creepy presence around her. When she returns home from school one day to find her older sister, Ayu, waiting for her with a birthday present, she is apprehensive. Ayu, who is nine years old, left home years ago because she didn't get along with their parents. Why is she back? Ayu gives off not only a creepy vibe, but an odd, sour smell that Alia dislikes intensely. Strange things happen at school as well, and Alia and her friends start to realize that perhaps Ayu is really a penanggalan. These creatures are able to take off their heads and fly around without their bodies, killing and eating babies and small children. They their innards in vinegar so they shrink and fit back into their bodies. At one point, Alia thinks that Ayu's head is turned the wrong way on her body, but her parents reassure her that's she's just imagineing things. As the situation both at home and school gets stranger, with Alia being accused of messing up her mother and father's possessions, Alia decides to try to investigate. She pretends to be sick and sends Ayu out to get her food. She finds trinkets in Ayu's suitcase that look like they may belong to missing children who have been on the news. When she confronts her parents, she finds out that they know that Ayu is a penanggalan, but claim she is not evil. After the paint on the walls bubbles, and the house itself tries to warn Alia about Ayu, she's not so sure. Her mother and father, as well as her friends and most of the town, are possessed as well. Ayu tells her that the monsters are doing this for fun, and that she has tried to fight against her monster tendencies. It's not enough; the fact that Ayu is trying to exist in our realm means that she has essentially opened the door to other spirits. Will Alia be able to save her family? And what does this story mean to Melur?
Strengths: Having your parents and friends possessed by monsters would certainly be a scary thing, and the suspense that builds as Alia realizes what is going on with her sister will keep readers on the edge of their seat. There is some friend drama at school as well, so Alia has a lot to navigate. The father's interest in puppetry is intriguing, and I wish that we had heard a whole lot more about that; I somehow thought that the sister would animate one of the puppet heads, but there wasn't anything like that, which was a shame! Possessed puppets are pretty petrifying! (Anyone else's brother have a Charlie McCarthy dummy? I was sure that was not a safe toy!)
Weaknesses: I had the same quibble with Ireland's The Boo Hag Flex; while the camp sounds vaguely intriguing, it's not really necessary for the main story, and we don't spend enough time there for it to really make much of an impression. I suppose the publisher thought a series would do better, so wanted a connection, but it's really not necessary. The Creepover books are all stand alones, and my students will still read lots of them. What I really think: This series has some interesting monsters that are different from the run-of-the-mill US ghosts. The sibling who is possessed is older; in both Bourne's Nightmare Island and Oh's Spirit Hunters, it's the younger brother who has this problem. I'm definitely purchasing this for fans of Night's Creepover series and the Scholastic Poison Apple books.
I would like to see glossaries of terms that are not in English; there were several that I wrote down, but by the time I looked them up, I'd lost the context. My students will probably just look the words up on their phones, but it would be nice to be able to flip to the back of the book and find them. I understand why the terms aren't defined, though.
Duncan, Violet. Buffalo Dreamer
August 27, 2024 by Nancy Paulsen Book
E ARC provided by the Publisher
Summer lives in Arizona to be near her father's family, who are Apache, but goes to visit her mother's parents every summer at their Cree reservation in Northern Alberta, Canada with her younger brother Sage in tow. She loves spending time with her cousin Autumn, riding the horse her uncle gave her, and being close to the other family in the area. Her grandfather, Mosom, had attended a residential school in the area, and excavation at the site has unearthed the bodies of children, similar to the situation at a residential school in British Columbia. Summer has been having dreams about a young girl running away, and talks to her mother about this dream visitor named Buffalo Dreamer. She and Autumn interview Mosom about his experiences at the school, which wasn't closed down until the 1990s. When the girls visit Kokom Rose, who is planning a march and vigil at the school for the children, she seeks the older woman's advice about the dream visitor and her message of "bring the children home". At the rally, Autumn tells summer that she did some research and found out that while some people knew of Buffalo Dreamer's attempt to run away, they also knew that she grew up and had a baby, but that's all she could find out. It turns out that an older woman that Summer has seen several times and with whom she felt a connection is Buffalo Dreamer, and Summer is able to talk to the woman, who has shared Summer's happy experiences with her mother as well. Mosom eventually talks about his past at the school, and Summer assures him that the younger generation wants to preserve these memories so that history doesn't repeat itself. Summer enjoys the time she has with her extended family, and gets to attend a Pow Wow. Summer learns that while the past can be difficult, it is important to know the history of her people, both the good and the bad.
Strengths: Even though this deals with the sad and difficult topic of residential schools, there are many scenes of what could be called Native American Joy. Summer is glad to be back out in nature, and goes out with her mother to pick sweet grass, and helps her grandmother pick berries. There are family fish fries, and a warm sense of closeness with the extended family. There are a few books about residential schools (Here is a nice list from Colorin Colorado), so it's always a topic we can see more books about. This is a short and accessible book that will appeal to a wide range of readers.
Weaknesses: This was a very short book, and I would have liked to know more information about the particular school, and especially a lot more about Buffalo Dreamer, since she got to speak with her.
What I really think: This is a good choice for readers who want to know more Native American or Indigenous Canadian history and found books like McManis' and Sorrell's Indian No More, Bithell's
Brave Bird at Wounded Knee: A Story of Protest on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, or Day's We Still Belong to be interesting and informative.
August 27, 2024 by Nancy Paulsen Book
E ARC provided by the Publisher
Summer lives in Arizona to be near her father's family, who are Apache, but goes to visit her mother's parents every summer at their Cree reservation in Northern Alberta, Canada with her younger brother Sage in tow. She loves spending time with her cousin Autumn, riding the horse her uncle gave her, and being close to the other family in the area. Her grandfather, Mosom, had attended a residential school in the area, and excavation at the site has unearthed the bodies of children, similar to the situation at a residential school in British Columbia. Summer has been having dreams about a young girl running away, and talks to her mother about this dream visitor named Buffalo Dreamer. She and Autumn interview Mosom about his experiences at the school, which wasn't closed down until the 1990s. When the girls visit Kokom Rose, who is planning a march and vigil at the school for the children, she seeks the older woman's advice about the dream visitor and her message of "bring the children home". At the rally, Autumn tells summer that she did some research and found out that while some people knew of Buffalo Dreamer's attempt to run away, they also knew that she grew up and had a baby, but that's all she could find out. It turns out that an older woman that Summer has seen several times and with whom she felt a connection is Buffalo Dreamer, and Summer is able to talk to the woman, who has shared Summer's happy experiences with her mother as well. Mosom eventually talks about his past at the school, and Summer assures him that the younger generation wants to preserve these memories so that history doesn't repeat itself. Summer enjoys the time she has with her extended family, and gets to attend a Pow Wow. Summer learns that while the past can be difficult, it is important to know the history of her people, both the good and the bad.
Strengths: Even though this deals with the sad and difficult topic of residential schools, there are many scenes of what could be called Native American Joy. Summer is glad to be back out in nature, and goes out with her mother to pick sweet grass, and helps her grandmother pick berries. There are family fish fries, and a warm sense of closeness with the extended family. There are a few books about residential schools (Here is a nice list from Colorin Colorado), so it's always a topic we can see more books about. This is a short and accessible book that will appeal to a wide range of readers.
Weaknesses: This was a very short book, and I would have liked to know more information about the particular school, and especially a lot more about Buffalo Dreamer, since she got to speak with her.
What I really think: This is a good choice for readers who want to know more Native American or Indigenous Canadian history and found books like McManis' and Sorrell's Indian No More, Bithell's
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