Out to Get You: 13 Tales of Weirdness and Woe
by Josh Allen ill by Sarah J Coleman
Librarians who work with children know that kids love scary stories: chilling tales reread until the spines break and pages fall out. They constantly ask for more fright-filled short stories. More. More. More. Maintaining a selection of hair-raising tales is a never-ending task. Finding middle grade narratives with just the right amount of fright factor, but not veering into gristly gore can be a challenge. Josh Allen has this covered with Out to Get You: 13 Tales of Weirdness and Woe. Stories are quick reads: tightly structured tales told briefly in a few pages and concluding with a macabre twist. Each begins with an everyday encounter. Then the ordinary takes an unexpected turn and young readers wonder what will happen next. Warning: "what happens next" is not a "happily ever after." Example: There's a stain on the school cafeteria floor. When a stray dime lands on the spot, the coin instantly vanishes. What happens when something or someone much larger accidentally lands on the stain? |
Pay attention to the female characters. The girls are rarely helpless victims. They are often the perpetrators of some horrifying stuff. They can deliver their own forms of justice. Lesson: Don't mess with a smart girl! Sarah J. Coleman's full-page eerie black ink drawings and a glow-in-the-dark cover complete the package. Librarians would do well to order several copies of these middle-grade tales of terror. Satisfy young appetites for horror-lite with these creeptastic tales. | |