Midnight Howl by Clare Hutton
31 Jul 2011 Leave a Comment
in early chapter books (7-12 yrs), grown up reviews, scary books
Scholastic, 2011
ISBN: 0545231019
Available: paperback & multiformat digital
Marisol, age 12, is a vegetarian Texas city girl who moves to a rural Montana ranch with her mom for a few months while their house is being rewired. The ranch is owned by Marisol’s mom’s best friend, husband and twin children. Montana is very different from the life she knows, with mountains, wide spaces and active night life—maybe even including werewolves. In fact, the history of the town is rife with legends of werewolves, and Marisol can’t dismiss the feeling that she’s being watched when she’s outside.
Midnight Howl is part of Scholastic’s Poison Apple series of scary books for kids. These dark-themed books feature vampires, werewolves and ghosts. They appeal to kids who have grown up in a Buffy and Twilight-loving culture and want monster stories of their own to read. Midnight Howl is a tight book. It doesn’t stray much from the werewolf mystery theme, which limits character development, especially in secondary characters. But the setting is fun and ultra-modern. Unlike the old Scooby-Doo cartoons there really are monsters prowling the pages instead of just men in masks. Highly recommended for children’s collections because of the demand of paranormal, spooky books for kids, Midnight Howl, and the Poison Apple series, are fun reads.
Contains: spooky scenes
Recommended for 6-12 yrs
