Angela Cervantes
Scholastic, 2024
221 pages
Grades 4-7
Horror
Rafael loves to write and tell scary stories. This is a release for him after living through a pretty scary early childhood with a mother struggling with addiction. Now he lives peacefully with his grandparents and little sister, but Mom is getting released from prison soon and he is very apprehensive about this new development. One day he tells a group of friends a new story about a creepy character named The Caretaker, who lures kids into a neighborhood pond. A neighbor overhears him and freaks out because he told the story under a Blood Red Moon and that means that the tale will come true. Is the neighbor crazy? Maybe, but her brother did disappear years ago as a child and he also told scary stories, so maybe she knows something about this. A mysterious large cat creeping around the neighborhood puts everyone further on edge and then bad news arrives when Rafael is suddenly not allowed to go on the neighborhood camping trip for the kids. He is disappointed--but also nervous for his sister. Will the Caretaker strike? He needs to figure out how to stop this sinister menace before more kids disappear. Help comes from unexpected places and Rafael dives deep to find the wits and courage to save the day.
Veteran author Cervantes serves up a spine-tingler seeped in realistic dilemmas. Horror is currently trending and this title will fill the bill for kids looking for scary fare. It is seriously creepy with a repeating scary refrain (One, two, he's coming for you...) and the situation feels plausible. Kids will be scared without being scarred and no one is permanently injured or killed. There are other levels to the story. Rafael is dealing with a parent that is overcoming addiction and is currently incarcerated, an absentee father, and friendship problems. Meanwhile, he feels very responsible for his younger sister, who he has always had to care for. I also like the representation of kids living with their grandparents of which there are a lot these days. Another layer is that Rafael's family is Hispanic and Spanish words are sprinkled throughout the text and the culture is represented. At the end of the day, Rafael finds the courage to beat the monster, make friends with his enemies, and give his mom a second chance. Not your run of the mill horror story, this is one with a bit of depth and more content than simply screams.
No comments:
Post a Comment