Published: November 15th, 2019 by Scholastic
Genre: Juvenile fiction, Horror
Format: Paperback, 256 pages, Own
Rating: 4 stars
Publisher's Summary:
On a cold winter night, Iris and her best friend, Daniel, sneak into a clearing in the woods to play in the freshly fallen snow. There, Iris carefully makes a perfect snow angel - only to find the crumbling gravestone of a young girl, Avery Moore, right beneath her.
Immediately, strange things start to happen to Iris: She begins having vivid nightmares. She wakes up to find her bedroom window wide open, letting in the snow. She thinks she sees the shadow of a girl lurking in the woods. And she feels the pull of the abandoned grave, calling her back to the clearing...
Obsessed with figuring out what's going on, Iris and Daniel start to research the area for a school project. They discover that Avery's grave is actually part of a neglected and forgotten Black cemetery, dating back to a time when White and Black people were kept separate in life - and in death. As Iris and Daniel learn more about their town's past, they become determined to restore Avery's grave and finally have proper respect paid to Avery and the others buried there.
But they have awakened a jealous and demanding ghost, one that's not satisfied with their plans for getting recognition. One that is searching for a best friend forever - no matter what the cost.
The Forgotten Girl is both a spooky original ghost story and a timely and important storyline about reclaiming an abandoned segregated cemetery.
Immediately, strange things start to happen to Iris: She begins having vivid nightmares. She wakes up to find her bedroom window wide open, letting in the snow. She thinks she sees the shadow of a girl lurking in the woods. And she feels the pull of the abandoned grave, calling her back to the clearing...
Obsessed with figuring out what's going on, Iris and Daniel start to research the area for a school project. They discover that Avery's grave is actually part of a neglected and forgotten Black cemetery, dating back to a time when White and Black people were kept separate in life - and in death. As Iris and Daniel learn more about their town's past, they become determined to restore Avery's grave and finally have proper respect paid to Avery and the others buried there.
But they have awakened a jealous and demanding ghost, one that's not satisfied with their plans for getting recognition. One that is searching for a best friend forever - no matter what the cost.
The Forgotten Girl is both a spooky original ghost story and a timely and important storyline about reclaiming an abandoned segregated cemetery.
My Thoughts:
It's a haunting ghost story on how when we forget the past it comes back to haunt us. She introduces kids to a dark past that has connections to the present.
Published: August 13th, 2019 by SourceBooks
Genre: True crime, Memoir
Format: Hardback, 336 pages, Library
Rating: 3 stars
Have you ever wanted to solve a murder? Gather the clues the police overlooked? Put together the pieces? Identify the suspect?
Journalist Billy Jensen spent fifteen years investigating unsolved murders, fighting for the families of victims. Every story he wrote had one thing in common―they didn't have an ending. The killer was still out there.
But after the sudden death of a friend, crime writer and author of I'll Be Gone in the Dark, Michelle McNamara, Billy became fed up. Following a dark night, he came up with a plan. A plan to investigate past the point when the cops had given up. A plan to solve the murders himself.
You'll ride shotgun as Billy identifies the Halloween Mask Murderer, finds a missing girl in the California Redwoods, and investigates the only other murder in New York City on 9/11. You'll hear intimate details of the hunts for two of the most terrifying serial killers in history: his friend Michelle McNamara's pursuit of the Golden State Killer and his own quest to find the murderer of the Allenstown Four. And Billy gives you the tools―and the rules―to help solve murders yourself.
Gripping, complex, unforgettable, Chase Darkness with Me is an examination of the evil forces that walk among us, illustrating a novel way to catch those killers, and a true-crime narrative unlike any you've read before.
My Thoughts:
While I really wanted to love this one, it didn't hit the right tone for me. I enjoyed his story about breaking into true-crime writing and how he met Michelle McNamara and helped her with research. But he's a weaker writer and all the elements didn't quite fit together. But it was interesting to see how regular citizens can come together and help police departments solve crimes. Though, it was horrifying to see how easy it is with the right amount of money to be targeted by ads on Facebook and other social media sites. Yikes.
Published: February 16th, 2016 by Tor.com
Genre: Horror
Format: Kindle, 149 pages, Own
Rating: 4 stars
Publisher's Summary:
People move to New York looking for magic and nothing will convince them it isn't there.
Charles Thomas Tester hustles to put food on the table, keep the roof over his father's head, from Harlem to Flushing Meadows to Red Hook. He knows what magic a suit can cast, the invisibility a guitar case can provide, and the curse written on his skin that attracts the eye of wealthy white folks and their cops. But when he delivers an occult tome to a reclusive sorceress in the heart of Queens, Tom opens a door to a deeper realm of magic, and earns the attention of things best left sleeping.
A storm that might swallow the world is building in Brooklyn. Will Black Tom live to see it break?
My Thoughts:
I always love LaValle's take on old stories. This one is no different. Let it burn and see what happens. Fantastic.
Published: July 5th, 2017 by Image Comics
Genre: Fantasy, Graphic novel
Format: Paperback, 152 pages, Library
Rating: 4 stars
Publisher's Summary:Maika Halfwolf is on the run from a coalition of forces determined to control or destroy the powerful Monstrum that lives beneath her skin. But Maika still has a mission of her own: to discover the secrets of her late mother, Moriko.
In this second volume of Monstress, collecting issues 7-12, Maika's quest takes her to the pirate-controlled city of Thyria and across the sea to the mysterious Isle of Bones. It is a journey that will force Maika to reevaluate her past, present, and future, and contemplate whether there's anyone, or anything, she can truly trust--including her own body.
My Thoughts:
Another great volume in Maika's journey. Characters are great. Maika is the anti-heroine. We learn more about the parasite God inhabiting her body, and more about her mother. The cats are great. And Little Fox is a great character to help bring out Maika's humanity.
Published: September 25th, 2018 by Scholastic Inc.
Genre: Horror, Young Adult
Format: Paperback, 272 pages, Own
Rating: 4 stars
Publisher's Summary:
Denise Farber has just moved back to New Orleans with her mom and step-dad. They left in the wake of Hurricane Katrina and have finally returned, wagering the last of their family's money on fixing up an old, rundown house and converting it to a bed and breakfast.Nothing seems to work around the place, which doesn't seem too weird to Denise. The unexplained noises are a little more out of the ordinary, but again, nothing too unusual. But when floors collapse, deadly objects rain down, and she hears creepy voices, it's clear to Denise that something more sinister lurks hidden here.Answers may lie in an old comic book Denise finds concealed in the attic: the lost, final project of a famous artist who disappeared in the 1950s. Denise isn't budging from her new home, so she must unravel the mystery-on the pages and off-if she and her family are to survive...
My Thoughts:
I always enjoy a great haunted house story. Priest meshes elements of history from Hurricane Katrina and current events like gentrification in black neighborhoods and all in a fun haunted house story. We also get an old comic book and a mystery to solve.
Published: July 18th, 2006 by Alfred A. Knopf
Genre: Horror
Format: Hardback, 319 pages, Own
Rating: 3.5 stars
Trapped in the Mexican jungle, a group of friends stumble upon a creeping horror unlike anything they could ever imagine. Two young couples are on a lazy Mexican vacation–sun-drenched days, drunken nights, making friends with fellow tourists. When the brother of one of those friends disappears, they decide to venture into the jungle to look for him. What started out as a fun day-trip slowly spirals into a nightmare when they find an ancient ruins site . . . and the terrifying presence that lurks there.
My Thoughts:
Smith gets full stars for creating a terrifying world. The vine creature that is out to get them is terrifying. I felt claustrophobic at times. You can really imagine yourself stuff out there in those ruins with those vines ...
But his characters ... don't even ask me to remember who is who. They're stereotypes and that's it. Slut girl, prissy girl, Boy Scout, the idiot, and the outsiders. They do dumb stuff that usually only happens in horror movies. But what a ride to the end!
*Horror books read for R.I.P. XIV and FrightFall
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