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Searching... Salem Main Library | J DeStefano, L. | Searching... Unknown |
Searching... Salem Main Library | J DeStefano, L. | Searching... Unknown |
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Summary
Summary
From New York Times bestselling author Lauren DeStefano comes a gorgeous tale of friendship found and fought for against a haunting danger. It's just right for fans of Serafina and the Black Cloak .
Lionel is a wild boy, who doesn't much like to be around other people. He'd rather be a purring cat or a wolf stalking the woods.
Marybeth is a nice girl. She doesn't need to be told to comb her hair or brush her teeth, and she's kind to everyone at the orphanage . . . Lionel most of all.
Different though they are, Lionel and Marybeth are best friends in a world that has forgotten about them. So when a mysterious blue spirit possesses Marybeth-and starts to take control-they know they must stop it before the real Marybeth fades away forever.
Author Notes
Lauren Destefano won The Thornton Wilder Award for a short story entitled Orange Blood while in high school. She received a BA in English with a concentration in creative writing from Albertus Magnus College in Connecticut in 2007. She is the author of the Chemical Garden Trilogy.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (3)
School Library Journal Review
Gr 4-6-When nine-year-old Lionel helplessly witnesses his father murder his mother, his self-preservation instinct kicks into overdrive. He develops a lone wolf temperament when confronted (hissing, growling, and snarling), yet he has a quiet, sensitive side beneath his fear-rabbits eat berries from his hand. Marybeth is polite, obedient, and timid. The two kids form an unlikely bond of friendship at Mrs. Mannerd's orphanage. On October 31, a mysterious blue light seeps under Marybeth's skin "like goose bumps on her bones." Unfortunately, this blue creature is the frenzied ghost of young Liza, who lived in the neighboring farmhouse. Liza's lost soul can't rest until her mysterious death is solved. She needs Marybeth's help-and Marybeth desperately needs Lionel's before this sly "fox" takes over her own soul. Brittany Pressley's well-crafted narration perfectly captures the wide variety of voices, from exasperated Mrs. Mannerd to protective Lionel to emotional Marybeth. VERDICT Tween fans of supernatural murder mysteries will enjoy this tale. ["Touching and creepy": SLJ 6/16 review of the Bloomsbury book.]-Cheryl Preisendorfer, Twinsburg City School District, OH © Copyright 2017. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
In a moving story about the lengths children will go to help a friend, Lionel and Marybeth live in an orphanage run by Mrs. Mannerd, a kindly widow who never had children of her own. Lionel, who thinks of himself as a "wild boy," would prefer to be an animal (any animal) and spends most of his time coaxing woodland creatures to feed from his hand. Marybeth, quiet and obedient, trails behind him, hoping to better understand why Lionel prefers the company of animals. When a strange blue creature, which Lionel believes to be a fox, inhabits Marybeth's body, it's up to the wild boy to tame his inner impulses and figure out the very human reason the blue creature refuses to let go of his best friend. DeStefano (A Curious Tale of the In-Between) again explores the spirit world in an engaging and sometimes frightening way. As the mystery unravels, she incorporates difficult subjects that include murder, abuse, and grief, handling them in a straightforward manner that readers will appreciate. Ages 8-12. Agent: Barbara Poelle, Irene Goodman Agency. (Sept.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Booklist Review
*Starred Review* On a miserably wet, dark night, something blue and beckoning draws Marybeth out of her comfortable, if chaotic, foster home. When she falls into a nearby river, the thing saves her but also somehow becomes a part of her. The presence, whose vague memories she finds she can see, begins to distort her normally calm personality. The change surprises Marybeth's best friend at the home, a young boy named Lionel, who seems more wild woodland creature than child. He has seen the blue, wispy presence too and is determined to help Marybeth figure out the mystery before it takes her over completely. The sure pace, complex characters, creepy moments, and haunting central narrative of a nearby family's farmyard secret are tender enough to draw in readers who like an emotional story of growth, as well as those who love to experience chills. The plot, replete with buried bones, a terrible house of punishment for problem children, and more, will keep kids reading all night long (albeit with the lights on). DeStefano (A Curious Tale of the In-Between, 2015) is no stranger to atmospheric middle-grade books and is impressively amassing work that rivals that of older authors known for scary mysteries, such as Mary Downing Hahn and Zilpha Keatley Snyder. Suggest during those darkening fall days leading up to Halloween.--Cruze, Karen Copyright 2016 Booklist