Houdini and Me

Houdini and Me by Dan Gutman, 2021

Recommended for grades 4-6; Fantasy, historical fiction

Brief Review:

Eleven-year-old Harry Mancini lives in the same house once inhabited by Harry Houdini, which is probably why he knows so many biographical details and fun facts about the famous escape artist. But he never expected to be tricked by Houdini himself. After a moment of poor judgement lands him in a week-long coma, Harry finds a flip phone among his get-well gifts and starts getting text messages from Houdini. Houdini is curious to know if he’s still famous a century after his death, but he soon reveals that he wants to ask a lot more of Harry. He wants to perform a “metamorphosis” and switch places with him. Harry is transported back to 1921 where, as Houdini, Harry must perform an escape stunt. Later, Houdini wants to repeat the switch, but this time, it’s going to be permanent. And he’s not taking no for an answer. Gutman’s portrayal of Houdini as an “egomaniac” with no regard for Harry’s life is a little concerning, as it probably doesn’t accurately reflect the character of this real historical figure. Aside from that, this book is a fun read, although the reading level is a little too low and it’s a little too short to fully explore the escapism theme. This slightly spooky time travel adventure may have some appeal for fans of those genres and reluctant readers, but I wouldn’t recommend it very highly to a more general audience.

Long Review:

Eleven-year-old Harry Mancini lives in the same New York City house once inhabited by the famous escape artist Harry Houdini, which is probably why he knows so many biographical details and fun facts about Houdini. The book opens with an expository chapter that includes some of Harry’s knowledge about his idol, (the shared first name, he says, is a coincidence) and foreshadows the supernatural elements of the rest of the story.

One day, while Harry and his best friend Zeke are hanging out at their favorite park together, Zeke persuades Harry to try putting some coins on a nearby train track to see them get flattened. Predictably, their stunt goes wrong and lands Harry in the hospital. He wakes up from a week-long coma to find get-well cards and gifts, including a flip phone that doesn’t seem to actually have service. His mom had always refused to let him have a cell phone, so Harry keeps the mysterious gift a secret. Then he finds out that his otherwise nonfunctional phone is evidently haunted by Harry Houdini. Late at night, Harry and Houdini text back and forth.

At first, Houdini seems to be simply curious about life in the 21st century, and in particular, he’s interested in knowing if he’s still famous. But Harry soon learns that Houdini has a more specific request. He wants to do a “metamorphosis” like the magic trick he used to do with his wife Bess, but this metamorphosis will be far more elaborate. He persuades Harry to switch places with him for an hour. Harry spends an hour in 1921 as Houdini and Houdini spends an hour in modern New York as an eleven-year-old boy. But what Harry didn’t realize is that his hour as Houdini would include performing an escape stunt. So when Harry is safe and sound back in his own body in the 21st century, he refuses to repeat the switch. Houdini isn’t going to take no for an answer, though. He’s determined to pull his greatest escape stunt of all by escaping death. And this time, he intends for the “metamorphosis” switch to be permanent. 

This fun time travel story is a little too short to fully explore its escapism theme, (although Houdini frequently points out that his escapes give people hope that they can escape from their own problems) and the book devotes far fewer pages to the actual Metamorphosis switch than to setting up the scenario. It’s a little too shallow and fast-paced for a lot of readers Harry’s own age, but will still hold plenty of appeal for slightly younger readers or for reluctant readers. 

I also have some concerns about the way Houdini was portrayed. Although Gutman clearly did his research in terms of Houdini’s biographical details, he made the creative decision to portray Houdini as an “egomaniac” with no regard for Harry’s life. This is indeed backed up by some biographers, but it seems like a stretch (and an unethical one at that) to suggest that he would have been callous and narcissistic enough to manipulate Harry into sacrificing himself for the sake of Houdini’s ultimate escape.

This slightly spooky time travel adventure is worth reading for those who are fans of any of those genres, and it might be a good suggestion for a reluctant reader who needs something fast-paced and easy to read, but I wouldn’t recommend it very highly to a more general audience. Since Gutman is pretty popular, most public libraries and elementary school libraries would probably do well to get this book anyway, but if you’re just looking for gift ideas for a middle-grade family member, you might want to skip this one.

The In-Between

The In-Between by Rebecca K. S. Ansari, 2021

Recommended for grades 5-8; ghost story, mystery

Brief Review:

Thirteen-year-old Cooper Stewart is initially baffled by his younger sister Jess’s fascination with a century-old mystery involving an unidentified victim in a train crash. But when she points out that the dead child was wearing a crest matching the jacket of the mysterious girl who recently moved into the house across the alley, Cooper decides it’s time to start asking some questions. Aside from introducing herself as Elena, the girl is unwilling to give any answers. One day, Cooper tries to follow her into her house only to discover that the entire house is an illusion. Together with Jess and a new friend named Gus, Cooper has to figure out who Elena is, why most people can’t see her or her house, and whether she’s connected to any of the historical disasters that Jess finds online when she tries to look for information about the crest. The kids gradually come to the realization that Elena is a ghost who repeatedly comes back to life just to die again in a different disaster every time, and that they must be in danger themselves. Meanwhile, Cooper and Jess are gradually coming to terms with their parents’ divorce several years ago and the fact that Dad has a new family now. These two storylines blend near the end of the book, when Cooper picks up on the underlying motifs regarding feeling “unseen” and the importance of human connection. An exciting, spooky mystery for readers who love plot twists and emotional depth.

Long Review:

I’ve been pretty excited about this book ever since I heard that there was a new Rebecca Ansari book out there. I thoroughly enjoyed her previous book, The Missing Piece of Charlie O’Reilly from 2019, for its unique premise, its blend of the realistic and the fantastical, and its immersive setting. I’ve gotten accustomed enough to reading children’s literature from a professional perspective that I’ve become a little jaded, and it’s unusual now for me to encounter a book that really fascinates and grips me, but that one did. (Looking back at my initial review for it, I see that I gave it a mild critique for its somewhat corny ending, but honestly, over the past year and a half, I’d completely forgotten that and only remembered it as a book that I thoroughly enjoyed.) I’m pleased to announce that Ansari’s new book is just as enjoyable with a similarly atmospheric and spooky vibe. It’s a little different in that the fantastical elements aren’t undeniably supernatural until almost halfway through the book, and I personally feel like it’s geared just slightly younger. But as far as appeal factors go, it’s pretty similar. 

Thirteen-year-old Cooper Stewart is furious at his father for walking out of his life and starting a new family. He’s also under a lot of stress due to his mother’s busy, two-job schedule and his ten-year-old sister Jess’s diabetes. But Jess has apparently taken comfort in trying to solve a century-old mystery she read about online. After a train crash in 1928, one of the victims was a young boy who was never identified. The only clue was a crest on his clothing which happens to match the jacket of the mysterious girl who recently moved into the house across the alley from Cooper and Jess.

Although Cooper doesn’t understand Jess’s fascination with the long-past railway disaster, he’s been just as curious as his sister about the new girl. She seems to spend all of her time just sitting on a swing and watching Cooper’s house, but she’s never spoken to him and she doesn’t even go to his school. He knows her family is rich, because her house had been abandoned and dilapidated until the girl’s family moved in and completely renovated the house within just a few days while the Stewart family was out of town. Cooper and Jess assume that the girl goes to a fancy private school and that the crest on her jacket can be used to identify the school, but their internet research doesn’t turn up any leads. So Cooper agrees to ask the girl directly. She introduces herself as Elena, but is unwilling to give Cooper any more information.

Meanwhile, Cooper has bonded with a new kid at school named Gus. Gus tells Cooper that he has moved in with his grandmother, the dour old lady who the neighborhood kids call a witch, while his parents figure out what to do about their failing relationship. Cooper sympathizes with Gus and finds himself opening up to his new friend more than he has been able to do with his old friends. After Gus happens to walk into a conversation between Cooper and Elena, Cooper and Jess end up letting Gus in on their mystery.

The plot thickens when Cooper goes over to Elena’s house and it looks completely different than what he’s always seen through the windows. It turns out that Elena’s beautifully remodeled house is just an illusion; it’s still the old abandoned ruin that had been there before. The only thing there other than debris and a spooky raven is a letter, presumably written by Elena, which Cooper takes with him to read in full later. When Cooper comes home bruised and bloody from touching broken glass, he and Jess realize that his mother has never been able to see Elena or her house. Only Cooper, Jess, and Gus have seen the illusion house and the mysterious neighbor girl. 

Jess is certain that Elena is a ghost, and although Cooper is initially skeptical, the letter from her house raises questions that he can’t answer in any other way. The letter describes waking up in 1911 New York and going to work at the Triangle Waist Company, aware of imminent disaster. “I hate dying by fire,” the letter says. With a little additional research, Jess and Cooper confirm that the Triangle Waist Company building was the site of a disastrous fire that killed 146 people that day. Although they’re still unsure exactly what Elena’s role is, they know that they’re in serious danger. And since Gus is the only other person who can see Elena, he must be in danger, too. 

Through their continued investigation into Elena’s illusionary house and her relationship with tragic disaster, as well as Cooper’s heart-to-heart conversations with Gus, and the eventual brush with death that they had been anticipating all along, the siblings bond and come to terms with the seemingly-unrelated conflicted feelings they have about their father and his new life. By the end of the book, this thrilling supernatural mystery has turned into a feel-good story about the importance of human connection, both in the sense of family relationships and of friendships. There are also interesting themes and motifs regarding feeling “unseen” or “invisible”, the power of the written word, and holding on to good memories. 

A Sprinkle of Spirits

Love, Sugar, Magic: A Sprinkle of Spirits by Anna Meriano

Children’s novel for grades 4-8; fantasy

This is the second book in the Love, Sugar, Magic series. I loved the first book, which came out at the very beginning of 2018, and I’ve been looking forward to this new installment for a while. The books are about a family-owned bakery where there’s a little bit of magic in everything they make.  Each woman in the Logrono family is a bruja, which is the Spanish word for a witch or sorceress. Usually, they don’t have their powers and don’t know about the magic until the age of fifteen, but eleven-year-old Leo is the exception. In the first book, A Dash of Trouble, Leo discovered the family secret and, after a comical mishap, her family eventually decided to let her learn how to use magic properly. By the time the second book starts a couple months later, Leo has put a lot of effort into studying spellcraft and memorizing lists of herbs. In fact, she’s having a hard time balancing her magical studies with her friendships, and that’s where the conflict starts.

A Sprinkle of Spirits takes place during the winter break from school, while Leo’s family is hard at work preparing for the Dia de los Reyes celebration. (Dia de los Reyes, aka Three Kings’ Day, is on January 6) It’s probably worth noting that this is in Texas, so this isn’t really a very wintery setting. Leo’s friend Caroline has just come back from a trip visiting family in Costa Rica. She wants to talk to Leo about it; it’s been rough on her because this was her first time making the trip without her mother, who died less than a year ago. But Leo doesn’t have a lot of time on her hands, and her sisters are critical of having a non-bruja spending so much time in the bakery. It’s bad enough that Caroline is in on the secret and that she helps Leo study, but having her there as a distraction in the bakery is just too much. Leo is so determined to prove her worth as a bruja that she doesn’t really stand up for Caroline, and it seems that their friendship is in jeopardy.

Then the spirits show up. They’re not exactly ghosts, and they’re definitely not zombies. They’re real, live people who had been dead for years. First, it’s Leo’s Abuela, who wakes her up first thing in the morning, and then Abuela’s friend Mrs. Morales shows up at their door. Then it turns out that a couple other spirits had appeared in other parts of town during the night. Leo isn’t sure what happened, and she doesn’t think it’s really her fault. But her sisters do. And they all know that they have to get the spirits back to el Otro Lado (The Other Side) right away. At first, they’re just vaguely concerned about what could happen if the spirits stay, but as they continue researching, their fears are confirmed. Apparently, returned spirits can’t survive for long, and it’s only a matter of time before they disintegrate forever. They have to go back, but this is easier said than done. Even though they understand the gravity of the situation, they each have unfinished business that they want to attend to first. Mrs. Morales wants to talk to her son, the father of Leo’s friend Tricia, about his potentially terminal illness. He hasn’t even told Tricia about it, but she’s overheard enough to know what’s happening and she is scared and upset. One man wants to fix up his garden, another is a former music teacher who wants to check on his piano, and one is the former mayor, who wishes he could stay for the upcoming election. In fact, he’d like to run for mayor again. Abuela’s unfinished business is to tell Leo and her sisters that they don’t actually have to choose between their roles as brujas and their relationships with their friends; they can indeed have both. On that note, Leo decides to enlist the help of various friends from school. Together, they must round up the spirits and figure out how to send them back.

So far, I’ve left out one significant twist which isn’t really a surprise ending, because it comes up around the middle of the book. It turns out that Caroline is a bruja, too. There isn’t a magically-run family business in her case, but she finds out that there’s some history of magical abilities in her family, too. In an attempt to bring back her mother using what little she knows from helping Leo study, she accidentally opened the way for the other spirits. What she doesn’t know is that she actually did bring back her mother, who has been hiding from her all day. Apparently, it just isn’t a good idea to bring back a recently deceased family member, given the fact that the spirits can’t actually stay for long. So Leo has to send Caroline’s mother back with the other spirits without Caroline ever knowing. But in all other regards, she realizes that she doesn’t have to shut Caroline out from her life as a bruja.

This is a great middle-grade book about family, friendship, and coping with death. But on a more superficial level, it’s a fun story with elements of mystery, adventure, and fantasy. The characters’ Hispanic heritage and culture is a selling point, too, especially since this is not exactly realistic fiction. (It can be hard to find good fantasy books that represent cultural minorities) And while this certainly isn’t a horror story, the presence of the spirits and the discussion of el Otro Lado will appeal to readers who like spooky books.

As a final note, though, I’d recommend reading the first book before this one. Although A Sprinkle of Spirits reiterates all of the major plot points from A Dash of Magic, the major characters are only briefly reintroduced. I expect that any reader who doesn’t know about Leo’s four older sisters from the first book will have a hard time relating to them or keeping them straight in this book. Besides that, Leo’s previous frustration with being the baby of the family sets the stage for the beginning of this book, when she’s somewhat neglecting her friendships because she’s so eager to please her family. There’s a clear logical progression from one story to the next.

Bone Hollow

Bone Hollow by Kim Ventrella

Children’s novel for grades 4-8; fantasy, horror

The story begins when Gabe falls off a roof while trying to rescue a prize chicken belonging to Miss Cleo, the mean-spirited elderly lady who took him in after the death of his parents. It’s no secret that Miss Cleo cares more about the chicken than about Gabe, and she especially dislikes Gabe’s dog Ollie. After his fall, all of the neighbors turn against Gabe, too, and essentially run him out of town. Although it takes a little while for Gabe to figure it out, any reader will be able to understand pretty quickly that Gabe has died and is a ghost. The townspeople are all terrified of him, with the exception of the creepy funeral director who seems to have some sinister motive for wanting to “help” Gabe. Gabe would like to stick around, but when his (former) friends and neighbors try to hunt him down, he becomes afraid for Ollie’s safety, and they run away into the forest.

It’s there where Wynne finds them. She’s a mysterious ghostly girl who bears a strong resemblance to Gabe’s old friend Niko. We later are given to understand that Wynne is capable of altering her appearance, an ability she uses to put people at ease by taking on the form of their loved ones. She also is capable of conjuring food that dead people are able to eat. She even heals Ollie, who has sustained a broken leg in the process of escaping from the hostile townspeople. Gabe is initially inclined to like and trust Wynne. He feels at home in the clearing she calls Bone Hollow. Then she tells him that she is Death, and what’s more, she’s trying to recruit him to become her replacement. Gabe is horrified and angry; he blames her for the deaths of his parents and grandfather. He runs away, but gets separated from Ollie and ends up coming back.

The eventual outcome is that Gabe comes to terms with death- his own and that of his family members- and decides that Wynne is good after all. She doesn’t actually kill people, she just helps them through the transition out of life. (We don’t really get specific details about heaven, although it’s clear that there is an afterlife where most people go after they die. Gabe and Wynne are exceptions in that they stick around after dying) But Wynne can’t be Death forever. Her strength is fading, and she needs Gabe to take over her job. He doesn’t really have a choice in the matter, but despite his previous protests, when the time comes, he’s perfectly willing to be Death.

The basic plot is interesting and the macabre subject matter will appeal to some readers, but I found the characterization to be a little lacking. About all that can be said for Gabe’s personality is that he’s very devoted to Ollie. Otherwise, he is a fairly nondescript and generic character. Wynne is a little more interesting, but only because she’s something of an enigma and her backstory is unclear. The few details we do know are revealed very gradually. We do see some personality traits from her, though; she takes care of Gabe and Ollie, she’s very diligent in her role as death, and she seems very confident and capable, but she’s not very forthcoming and honest. To me, she seemed a little manipulative, although I get the sense that we aren’t supposed to see her that way. Once Gabe comes to terms with her role as Death, it seems like she’s supposed to be entirely and unequivocally a “good guy” again.

This book is perhaps less about the plot than about acceptance of death. At first, Gabe is in denial that he is dead, and then he actually seems glad to be dead because his life was so hard, but he is bitter about other people’s death. As the story progresses, there are passages where Gabe acknowledges death as a natural and inevitable aspect of the world, and he eventually stops seeing it as a bad thing at all. The book ends on a peaceful and positive note. But most of the online discussion seems to focus on the idea that this book could be comforting to young readers who are dealing with the death of a loved one or who are confused and frightened about death in general. In my personal opinion, though, because the overall tone of the book was dark and morbid and because of a few creepy passages, it works better as a spooky ghost story than as a source of comfort and platitudes.

 

Ghost Stories for Post-Halloween-Time

I feel like there have been a lot of ghost stories published this year. I’d been hoping to read all of the ones that were on my radar and then to post the list here by Halloween. Obviously, I failed. Not only am I a few days late, but I didn’t get around to doing all that reading. Of the titles I’ve listed below, only one of them is something that I’ve read within the past couple months. But I figured that at this point, I might as well go ahead and post what I’d put together so far. In all fairness, I should also make a mention of The Peculiar Incident on Shady Street by Lindsay Currie, which I’m currently reading and enjoying after having been looking forward to it for months. Other books that I’ll be returning to the library unread are A Properly Unhaunted Place by William Alexander, Teen Hyde by Chandler Baker, and Beyond the Doors by David Neilsen. I also never got around to checking out Ghost Attack by David Lubar or Spirit Hunters by Ellen Oh, both of which are the first book in a new series that looks promising. And it sounds like The Secret of Nightingle Wood by Lucy Strange, just published earlier this week, (on Halloween in fact) is also a ghost story, and one that I’ll want to read. With all that said, here are the ghost books I actually have read recently.

 

Nightlights by Lorena Alvarez, 2017

In this short graphic novel, an artistically talented girl named Sandy befriends a new girl at school who turns out to be a ghost. The ghost is fascinated by Sandy’s skills, but what she really wants is to feed off of Sandy’s creativity. At least the beginning is reminiscent of Vera Brogol’s 2011 graphic novel Anya’s Ghost. However, Nightlights is for a younger target audience and is much more colorful. The artwork is beautiful and scary enough to satisfy a horror fan, but there are so many plot details that are left ambiguous. I expect that Alvarez intentionally designed it that way. Reading this book is like waking up from a dream that was extremely vivid but made no sense. I guess that’s just not a literary style I like, but I can appreciate that it was done effectively here.

 

The Doll’s Eye by Marina Cohen, 2017

This creepy middle-grade novel, full of dolls and insects and the color puce, is ultimately a “be careful what you wish for” story. Hadley, the protagonist, is miserable in her new home with her new stepfather and new stepbrother. She was happier when it was just her and her mom, although she also would have liked to have known her dad. The dollhouse and doll family she finds in the attic look like her idea of what family life should be like. Another item she finds in the attic is a glass eye, which has a disturbing connection to previous residents of the house. The reader will get an idea of the horrors that await Hadley long before she herself does. In my opinion, the writing isn’t stellar, but if you’re more interested in dark and spooky plots than in writing style, this is a great choice. Best read within the space of a couple days.

 

The Girl with the Ghost Machine by Lauren DeStefano, 2017

Twelve-year-old Emmaline wishes her father would unplug the machine in the basement, which he’s been working on for two years almost nonstop. He started it a month after his wife died, and he hopes it can bring her back, but he spends so much time alone with the machine that Emmaline feels she’s lost both her parents. Finally, Emmaline loses patience. In an attempt to destroy it, she tosses her tea into the machine. But the memories associated with that tea turn out to be the missing ingredient, and Emmaline’s mother shows up for long enough to make more tea. Emmaline tells no one except her best friends, Oliver and Gully. When the three of them experiment by bringing back first a fish and then a dog, Emmaline’s father and an elderly neighbor both find out, and both naturally want to use the machine. But there’s a high cost to use it; the memories used to activate the machine are gone forever. (The basic premise is very similar to that of The Remarkable Journey of Charlie Price by Jennifer Maschari, published in 2016) Much of this book is about the conflict that Emmaline and her father feel. Is a visit with a loved one worth the loss of precious memories? Emmaline and Gully don’t think so, but Emmaline’s father, Oliver, and the neighbors all think it’s fine to use the machine for one final goodbye. That winter, a new tragedy raises the question all over again. The book never specifies where or when it’s set, but all of the main characters have French last names, and since it makes reference to telephones but not computers, I’m guessing it’s set somewhere in the middle of the last century. I finished this book just a few days ago, and it’s among my favorites of the year so far. But as far as ghost stories go, it’s not scary.

 

One For Sorrow by Mary Downing Hahn, 2017

On Goodreads, I gave this book four stars and a rather lengthy review. Much of it was plot summary, and then I made a few critiques that basically boiled down to shallow characterization and unnecessary repetition. But even though it wasn’t quite a five-star book for me, I still enjoyed it. The story is set in 1918 against the backdrop of World War I and the Spanish flu epidemic. Twelve-year-old Annie Browne is new at her school and has just worked her way into the popular crowd when the epidemic is at its worst.  While attending random visitations for the free food, Annie and her friends discover that their classmate Elsie Schneider has died. All the girls at school, Annie included, disliked Elsie and bullied her. After a sledding accident later that winter, in which Annie hits her head on Elsie’s tombstone, Elsie’s ghost starts following Annie around, threatening and taunting her, and sometimes taking control and causing Annie to misbehave. I loved the setting, largely because the 1910’s are underrepresented in children’s literature, and perhaps also partly because there’s something cozy about wintertime stories. Add on to that the moderate scariness, and the overall effect is comfortable spooky. Not Hahn’s best work, but it’s worth a read if you’ve liked her other middle grade ghost stories.

 

Isadora Moon Goes to School and Isadora Moon Goes Camping by Harriet Muncaster, 2017 (First published in the UK in 2016)

If you’re British, consider yourself lucky, because there are already six books in this series on your side of the pond. Also, if you’re an American who can read Spanish, you already have access to four Isadora Moon books. I suppose I could turn to Amazon and get my Isadora Moon fix via imported paperbacks. But I digress. The point here is that this is an excellent new chapter book series that I highly recommend. I’m a little disappointed that my library kids haven’t taken much notice of these books yet. The protagonist is half-fairy and half-vampire, which is such an interesting premise that I don’t think I need to say much more to make my point. The books rank pretty low on spookiness, but the bats and nocturnal adventures are enough for me to justify putting them on this list. They aren’t technically ghost stories, but vampires are almost the same thing, right?