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Book Review: Are You In The House Alone? by Richard Peck

Are You In The House Alone? by Richard Peck

Puffin, 2000

ISBN: 0141306939

Available: New and Used

 

Editor’s note: Are You In The House Alone? was first published in 1977. I first read it in 1985, and our review of it is one of the earliest we published. While it is dated, given current events, it seems eerily relevant, and even more terrifying.

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    This is probably the first young adult novel to deal frankly with rape and its aftermath. Gail, a high school junior living in a charming New England town, is getting obscene notes and phone calls. She doesn’t want to think about it, her best friend pretends nothing is happening, and when she finally tells a guidance counselor she isn’t taken seriously. Isolated and terrified, she opens the door one night to let her boyfriend in and is surprised by her stalker, who happens to be her best friend’s boyfriend and the son of the wealthiest family in her small town.

    The chief of police tells Gail he will not arrest the boy, and a sympathetic lawyer explains that pressing charges would mean an attack on her personal life. Gail decides not to press charges, and returns to school. Another girl with an identical raincoat is then attacked on her way home and is left in critical condition.

     This story shows that the rapist is not the only monster. Every person who turns a blind eye to Gail’s situation, from her best friend to the chief of police, shows an ugly side that should horrify anyone who has ever needed to tell a terrible secret.  Richard Peck, a brilliant young adult author, is effective at creating Gail’s world and is able to express the horror of her situation without getting graphic.

Contains: sexual situations, violence

 

Reviewed by Kirsten Kowalewski

Posted on October 3, 2018 by , Reply

Book Review: A Girl, A Ghost, and the Hollywood Hills by Lizabeth Zindel

A Girl, a Ghost, and the Hollywood Hills by Lizabeth Zindel

Viking Juvenile, 2010

ISBN-13: 978-0670011599

Available: Hardcover, Kindle edition

 

    In the introduction to A Girl, a Ghost, and the Hollywood Hills, the author explains that her intent is to portray a “Hamlet-inspired ghost story unlike any other”, and there are obvious similarities. Holly has gone off to the East Coast at the start of her freshman year of high school, just a few months after her mother’s death. Not long after her departure for high school, her father drops the bomb that he has begun seeing her aunt; Holly’s late mother’s sister, Claudia. Naturally, Holly is extremely upset with her father and puts off returning home for breaks or holidays to cope with the situation until Christmas break. Shortly after her arrival home for Christmas break, Holly begins seeing her dead mother’s ghost, who asks Holly to seek revenge on Claudia. All of this is very much reminiscent of Hamlet, including the idea that Prince Hamlet may be mad in his visions of the ghost of King Hamlet. In A Girl, a Ghost, and the Hollywood Hills, however, Holly finally agrees toward the end that she is creating these visions, thus ending the idea of a ghostly element.   

   I had high hopes for this novel given the excerpt on the back, but very quickly, I discovered dialogue that seems contrived accompanied by an easily determinable conclusion. No thrills and chills are to be found within the pages. Instead, the reader will likely find themselves feeling a bit slimy from the content as it includes interjections of sexual content, including a scene in which Holly overhears her father and Claudia having sex.

    As there is no real paranormal/ghostly presence, but instead a distraught teenager who struggles to cope with her mother’s death and her father’s indiscretions, this wouldn’t really fall into the horror category.

     The publisher’s information says the book is for ages 12 and up; grades 7 and higher, but I would be more apt to say ages 14 and up and grades 9 and higher given the sexual content. If added, I would suggest this be included in a YA public library collection.

Contains: Sexual content

Reviewed by Kelly Fann

Posted on September 12, 2018 by , Reply

Book Review: Raptor by Paul Zindel

Raptor by Paul Zindel

Hyperion Books For Children, 1998

ISBN: 0786823747

Available: New and Used

 

When Zack and his Native American friend Ute explore the cave where Zack’s paleontologist father was mysteriously injured, they discover a strange nest with very large eggs. Zack, thinking they might be worth a lot of money, takes an egg with him despite Ute’s warnings that he should leave it be. Ute is right, of course. As soon as she and Zack get the egg home, it hatches into (surprise!) a baby raptor, and not thirty minutes later, its mother comes by looking for junior. And all of that happens in the first fifty pages! Teens will love the fast pace of this book. It opens with a gruesome raptor attack, so there’s no waiting around for dinosaur action, and there’s a thrill in every chapter. I also loved Zack’s eating a live grub to impress Ute’s wise old grandmother. Why, you may ask, is a supposedly extinct raptor roaming around the Utah desert? Well, that’s the book’s big mystery and I won’t spoil it for you.  Situations are extremely contrived, the characters are painfully flat, and the writing is awkward, overdone and melodramatic. The scenes involving raptors attacking people were well described, fun to read and surprisingly gruesome. Personally, I rooted for the raptors to chomp Zack and Ute and end this silly novel early on, but teen readers, especially boys, will eat this story up.

Contains: gore, violence, adult alcohol use.

Review by Horror Master

Posted on September 10, 2018 by , Reply
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