FINISHED: 
Avi. (2016). School of the Dead. New York: HarperCollins.

[Tony and his family move to San Francisco so that he can attend the alma mater, The Penda School, of his afterlife-believing, recently deceased Uncle Charlie.  Upon starting seventh grade at his new school, Tony not only begins to see the ghost of his dead Uncle, but also that of a long dead student, while finding out that over the life of the school, students have been mysteriously disappearing every seven years.  Avi’s latest has its moments where the reader will be fooled by some red herrings, as Tony eventually finds himself caught between a ghost who needs his help, a group of students called the Weird History Club who investigate the odd goings on at the school, and teachers who advise Tony to stay away from the Weird History Club… thus putting him in a position where he’s not sure who to believe has his best interest at heart, and wondering if there is anyone that he can trust.  This aside, the story being set in San Francisco seems inconsequential, and rather than building real tension, this is a standard ghost story with few real scares that feels padded and overlong (not helped by the lack of chapter designations), giving the impression that it could’ve made a much more effective short story.]

STARTED:
Springstubb, Tricia. (2016). Every Single Second. New York: Balzer + Bray/HarperCollins.

[Rereading before writing a formal review for ACL.  As previously mentioned (and seen by the author!), MOONPENNY ISLAND, from last year, was one of my ABSOLUTE FAVORITES, so I'm trying this one again to solidify my feelings.]

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FINISHED:
Dougherty, Michael. (2015). Trick 'r Treat: Days of the Dead. Burbank, CA: Legendary Comics.

[.]

STARTED:
Appelt, Kathi, and Alison McGhee. (2016). Maybe a Fox. New York: Atheneum/Simon & Schuster.

[.]

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Picture Book Tuesday: HALLOWEEN

STARTED & FINISHED:

Kraus, Robert. (1973). How Spider saved Halloween. New York: Scholastic.

[D'oh! Looks like I read this one for Halloween last year, too. I was looking for a cover image to post here and MY OWN BLOG SHOWED UP! These Spider books will forever be in my possession. Most of them aren't NEARLY as enjoyable, dead-pan funny, or nostalgic as How Spider Saved Christmas but cute nonetheless. As in typical Spider fashion, in this one he can't come up with a costume that doesn't still look like himself. Eventually, he dresses up as a jack-o-lantern to scare off some bully bugs who are going around smashing pumpkins. Unfortunately, Fly (my favorite) isn't quite up to his dryly cantankerous self in this one.]



Preston, Edna Mitchell. (1969). One dark night. New York: Viking.

[An "additive tale" a la "The House that Jack Built" in which a number of kids dressed in Halloween costumes follow each other down a dark road only to be scared off by the squeeking of a mouse. I was drawn to this one because of the illustrations by Kurt Werth - must find other examples of his work. They have a fantastic "vintage" look in their simplicity. Would make a GREAT read-aloud during the Halloween season.]




Devlin, W. and H. (1972). If... New York: Parents' Magazine Press.

[Old Witch is called upon when it looks like rich old Mr. Butterbean is canceling Halloween. He locks her up and throws her in a tower so that she won't interfere, but her trusty crow comes to her rescue and after turning Mr. Butterbean into a frog, Halloween is back on! Again, the illustrations are what drew me to this one. They look super familiar and I guess it's because the duo who did this one also did a Thanksgiving one that I've seen before. There's a great sense of perspective in many of the illustrations, and by the style it is SO clear that they were done in the '70s - bold, bright colors outlined in black - super '70s styled. I'll have to do some research, but by the look of them I'd swear that these folks had something to do with some of those holiday cartoon specials of old...]

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