Category: booklist reviews

THE WUMP by Tony DiTerlizzi

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This review first appeared in Booklist on August 1, 2026.

As an insect aficionado, Timothy Quibble understands the concept of metamorphosis better than most. Even so, he doesn’t expect adolescence—that time of transition and transformation—to be quite so agonizing. At home, his already shaky relationship with his dismissive, indifferent mother is further strained by her impending impulsive marriage. At school, he contends with bullying and the often humiliating social sidelining by junior-high cliques. And, of course, there’s the darkness growing within him, on the verge of violently erupting the moment everything gets to be too much. After a series of confrontations with both family and friends, this spreading shadow threatens to envelop Tim like a cocoon, and he must reckon with his turbulent emotions before he emerges as a monster. DiTerlizzi’s atmospheric illustrations help set the story’s moody tone as he delivers a haunting and heartfelt coming-of-age tale that refuses to shy away from the sorrow and uncertainty of leaving childhood behind, while also celebrating the messy, marvelous process of growing into oneself. A Kafkaesque offering for fans of Paul Tremblay’s Another (2025).

 

LEVEL UP by Daka Hermon

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This review first appeared in Booklist on August 1, 2026.

Keenan Reed is tired of monsters. He and his mother have just left one behind in the form of his abusive father, after all. Now they’ve moved back to his mother’s childhood home, hoping for a fresh start. But something seems to be off in the small southern town. There’s talk of shadowy figures and strange happenings. At school, the teachers behave in increasingly odd and erratic ways, while the students have become obsessed with a new mobile game that appears to be changing them into something frightening. As the danger creeps closer, Keenan realizes that monsters can come in many forms. With help from new friends who’ve had eerie experiences of their own, Keenan finds the courage to face this fearsome darkness in order to save his family and new home. Hermon smoothly weaves Keenan’s color-blindness into the narrative, adding welcome texture to his perspective. Hermon’s existing fans will appreciate callbacks to earlier books, but chills will come for all who encounter the menacing creatures and mettlesome monster hunters inhabiting this thoughtful, thrilling, and thoroughly creepy tale.

 

REMEMBER ME, DAPHNE by Celia Krampien

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This review first appeared in Booklist on July 1, 2026.

Twelve-year-old Flora Abbott has always wanted a best friend—not a casual, fleeting acquaintance but a real, permanent partner: a best best friend. So, when a family moves into the long-abandoned house across the street, the one everyone believes to be haunted, she lets herself hope. Mac arrives like a promise—curious, courageous, and compassionate—but what feels like the beginning of a perfect friendship takes some sinister detours. Things at 13 Bly Street start to go missing; strange incidents seem to happen only when Mac is around; and Mac’s little brother, Danny, keeps turning up with an unsettling, distant look in his eyes. Soon enough, Flora begins to suspect it isn’t the house that’s being haunted at all. This ghost story is a poignant exploration of loneliness, self-doubt, and emotional bravery that’s charming, cozy, and exceptionally moving. Primarily known for her illustration work, Krampien’s lively art is a clear highlight. Read alongside Lindsay Currie’s Scritch Scratch (2020) and Ally Malinenko’s Broken Dolls (2025) at your next spooky sleepover.

THE HUNGRY FOREST by Kaela Rivera

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This review first appeared in Booklist on June 1, 2026.

Brothers Ryan and Teddy are dealing with their father’s tragic death in different ways. Ryan has decided to take his father’s advice on how to be a proper man to heart, putting on a brave face for the sake of his increasingly anxious mother and his overly sensitive younger brother, choosing instead to sweat out his grief on the track. Teddy, in an effort to feel closer to his dad, has taken up his dad’s old research into the many missing-person cases that seem to revolve around the mysterious, infamous forest at the heart of town. Then Teddy ventures into the wilderness, and Ryan—who blames his brother for their father’s death—must push past his resentment if he hopes to save him from the ravenous woods, which prove to be every bit as cursed as the legends say. Rivera (Cece Rios and the Desert of Souls, 2021) tackles themes of masculinity, mourning, and the immortal bonds of family in this gripping, atmospheric, and utterly eerie tale. Fans of Leslie Vedder’s Labyrinth of Souls series will find similar thrills here.

THE ISLAND AT THE EDGE OF NIGHT by Lucy Strange

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This review first appeared in Booklist on May 1, 2026.

Faye Fitzgerald has been unceremoniously sent off by an apprehensive aunt and her ailing father to a boarding school located on a remote, seemingly barren Scottish island, for, she is told, her wicked behavior—only Faye can’t exactly remember the wicked things she’s supposed to have done. At this reform school, she quickly discovers that the students are treated more like prisoners than pupils, and after learning of the sinister acts of her fellow classmates (window expulsions and sibling slayings not least among them), she can only assume she has done something equally monstrous to deserve such punishment. But when a supposedly deceased student finds her in the middle of the night with news of the faculty’s own nefarious misdeeds, Faye realizes that if nothing on the island is what it seems, then perhaps their proclaimed wicked, wild natures are also more complex than they first appear. Using strong and sympathetic characters, Strange skillfully explores themes of moral complexity, found family, and people’s inherently deep-rooted connection to nature in this stirring and atmospheric gothic mystery.

THE LOVELY DARK by Matthew Fox

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This review first appeared in Booklist on April 1, 2026.

Death has been on Eleanor’s mind a lot lately, particularly since her beloved grandmother passed away at the height of the pandemic. It permeates her thoughts so thoroughly that she isn’t especially surprised when, for one brief, impossible moment, she meets her grandmother’s ghost. And it’s on Eleanor’s mind when she dies herself, alongside her best friend, Justin, in a drowning accident soon after. Now Eleanor finds herself at Eventide House, a sort of spiritual boarding school where she can stay until she’s prepared to move on. But her soul isn’t ready for the afterlife just yet. Eleanor sets out to explore the mysterious house and its ominous surroundings, determined to find both her friend and a way back to their grieving families. In this imaginative and poignant reinterpretation of Orpheus and Eurydice, Fox transforms the tragic tale of loss into an evocative and endearing celebration of life, love, and lasting hope. The story’s thoughtful exploration of death will resonate with readers of books like John Connolly’s The Book of Lost Things (2006) and Neal Shusterman’s Everlost (2006).

 

BE RIGHT BACK by Bill Wood

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This review first appeared in Booklist on March 1, 2026.

It’s been a year since the Sanera Four put a stop to the Carrington Ghoul and the vicious killing spree that shocked their small California town. Now, most of the gang are off at college, trying to put the whole traumatic affair behind them. But when they are drawn back to Sanera for a festival honoring the victims of the tragedy, they quickly learn that the past is never truly past. The Carrington Ghoul has somehow returned, now accompanied by other murderous figures from local legend, bearing a message every horror aficionado knows: sequels are always bigger, bolder . . . and so much bloodier. In this follow-up to the Scream-inspired Let’s Split Up (2025), Wood faithfully adheres to the sequel rules established by the famous film franchise, delivering a knowing, gleeful escalation of mythology, mayhem, and meta-commentary alongside its seasoned meddling kids. A thrilling entry in the modern slasher scene, standing right alongside Lisa Springer’s There’s No Way I’d Die First (2023) and Justine Pucella Winans’ How to Survive a Slasher (2025).

HERE LIES A GHOST by Shakirah Bourne

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This review first appeared in Booklist on February 1, 2026.

After Brody, his best and only friend, appears to give him the cold shoulder following a visit to his modest home, Jermaine feels resentful and embarrassed—enough that he’s willing to change his slightly awkward, science-loving personality to fit in with the Turbo Jets, their school’s popular athletic group. It quickly becomes apparent that the posse prefers pranks over camaraderie, particularly after they lock Jermaine inside an infamously haunted burial vault at the local cemetery. There, he encounters the ghost of Dorcas Chase, a girl who died in nineteenth-century Barbados. Jermaine befriends Dorcas, coming to see her as a guardian and guiding presence. But when her protective streak turns sinister, Jermaine begrudgingly reconciles with Brody—the only other person besides him who can see the ghost girl—to find a way to stop her spectral rampage and, hopefully, set her free. Using alternating chapters of straight prose and free verse, Bourne explores themes of grief, friendship, and forgiveness, while vividly bringing to life some of the harsh realities of her homeland’s colonial history in this haunting, thoughtful narrative.

 

OLIVE OAKES AND THE HAUNTED CAROUSEL by Kalynn Bayron

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This review first appeared in Booklist on January 1, 2026.

There are few things Olive Oakes loves more than solving mysteries with her cousin and best friend, Eli. She feels they’re cut out for far more than the small-scale cases they’ve been tackling all summer, though. Figuring out which neighborhood dog keeps pooping in their front yard is a sort of win, but it’s hardly thrilling detective work. When they tag along with her parents on a real estate job in the small town of Whispering Woods, Olive isn’t exactly expecting much. But soon they start hearing strange stories about missing children and a supposedly haunted carousel at the annual carnival, and Olive can’t help but feel she’s finally found a mystery worthy of her considerable sleuthing skills. Witty, whimsical, and wonderfully cozy, this first entry in a new middle-grade detective series delights from the very first page. Bayron has a particular knack for dialogue, bringing to life two exceptionally lively and charismatic central characters whom readers will be eager to follow. This clever, contemporary take on the classic Nancy Drew formula is sure to charm.

X MARKS THE HAUNT by Lindsay Currie

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This review first appeared in Booklist on January 1, 2026.

Twelve-year-old Will Stone loves hanging out in the local graveyard. It’s not as creepy as it sounds—his mom runs the old resting place, so it’s practically like his second home. He even lends a hand with the day-to-day work, thanks to his knack for genealogical research and his ability to make sense of the cemetery’s archaic, crumbling records. It’s a quiet, stable sort of life, which suits him just fine, particularly since the recent death of his dad, which turned his world upside down. Then, after a field trip, the resident school bully loses the key to an ancient crypt, accidentally awakening a restless spirit that soon shatters the serenity Will so cherishes. When the seemingly sinister specter starts sapping the life out of the surrounding landscape and haunting Will and his friends in increasingly unsettling ways, Will realizes he must uncover the identity of the agitated apparition before it destroys both the place he loves and the people he holds most dear. Set in Chicago’s historic Graceland Cemetery, Currie’s latest delivers another exciting and eerie mystery, expertly blending fascinating facts with fearsome fiction. Chilling, thrilling, and touching in equal measure, this story of supernatural suspense will appeal to readers of The Forgotten Girl (2019), by India Hill Brown, and Mystery James Digs Her Own Grave (2025), by Ally Russell.