A bite above the rest

Book Cover
Average Rating
Publisher
Aladdin, an imprint of Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing Division
Publication Date
2024.
Language
English

Description

A boy moves to a Halloween-themed town only to realize there may be more to the tourist trap than meets the eye in this middle grade novel of “thrills and chills in a gloriously goofy setting” (Kirkus Reviews) perfect for fans of The Last Kids on Earth and Escape from Mr. Lemoncello’s Library!When Caleb’s mom decides they are moving to her childhood home in Wisconsin, Caleb is not thrilled. Moving schools, states, and time zones would be bad enough, but Mom’s hometown is Samhain, a small and ridiculously kitschy place where every day is Halloween. Caleb is not a fan of Halloween when it only happens once a year, so Halloween-obsessed Samhain is really not the place for him. How is he supposed to cope with kids wearing costumes to school every single day? And how about the fact that the mayor is so committed to the bit that City Hall is only open from sundown to sunup to accommodate his so-called vampirism? Sure enough, Caleb becomes an outcast at school for refusing to play along with the spooky tradition like the other sixth graders. Luckily, he manages to find a friend in fellow misfit Tai, and just in time, because things are getting weird in Samhain…or make that weirder. But there’s no way the mayor is an actual vampire, and their teacher absolutely cannot really be a werewolf—right? Caleb discovers Samhain is so much stranger than he ever could have imagined. As one of the only people who realizes what’s happening, can he save a town that doesn’t want saving?

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ISBN
9781665946575
9781665946582
166594658

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Published Reviews

Publisher's Weekly Review

Heart and hilarity define this quirky All Hallow's Eve tale by debut author Virnig, who evokes the classic Halloween Town film series to ghoulish effect. Following his father's death, 11-year-old Caleb and his mother move from Los Angeles to her hometown--the Halloween-obsessed locale of Samhain, Wis.--for a fresh start. The first thing Caleb notices about Samhain is that everyone is in costume and acts like the character they're portraying--all the time. It also seems as if a hint of evil permeates the air. Luckily, he quickly befriends classmate Tai, who's dressed as "the World's Most Perfect Fairy," and with whom he's paired for a school project. As they work on their assignment, the duo soon uncovers oddities that are a little out of place, even for Samhain--particularly with the vampiric mayor--and that residents have been experiencing curious memory lapses. Surrounded by witchy neighbors, werewolf teachers, and other things that go bump in the night, Caleb must navigate feelings of grief and isolation; levying hijinks balance weightier themes of loss and adjusting to a new normal. Caleb and Tai are depicted on the cover with pale and brown skin, respectively. Ages 8--12. Agent: Jim McCarthy, Dystel, Goderich & Bourret. (Aug.)

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School Library Journal Review

Gr 4--7--In this spooky middle grade adventure, Caleb and his mom relocate to the town of Samhain, WI, where Halloween is always on full display. Costumes in school are expected, businesses are decked out with themed decor, and even the mayor's office keeps "vampire hours." But when his English teacher's fangs and fur seem a bit too real, and his next door neighbor brews potions and has a wand, Caleb begins to wonder if Samhain is hiding a dark secret. Thankfully, he can rely on his friend and classmate Tai to help unravel this mystery, and they research and test theories to ward off werewolves and witches. Their actions raise the suspicions of the mayor, and what follows is a race to expose the truth behind Samhain to the rest of the town before Caleb and Tai's efforts are undone. The book strikes a good balance of humor alongside the horror: Caleb's daily choice of punny costume (e.g., writing "Go Ceiling Go!" on his hoodie to become a "ceiling fan") was a regular feature, and Caleb and Tai's illustrated monster research manual was peppered with good-humored sniping between them. A nighttime escape from a giant in the town library and full moon encounters with werewolves bring tension, but the book never gets so intense as to scare off readers. This is a good read-alike for fans of Kory Merritt's No Place For Monsters. VERDICT A fun title to get into the hands of middle graders, especially ones who can't get enough of Halloween.--Michael Van Wambeke

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Kirkus Book Review

It's Halloween every day in the town of Samhain--and not all the creepy residents are in costume. Playing with expectations in her fiction debut, Virnig transplants sixth grader Caleb Fisher and his recently widowed mom from Los Angeles to a Wisconsin town where, to crank up the tourism, residents and buildings are dressed up for Halloween all year round. But, as Caleb quickly discovers, some of the local vampires and witches are very convincing. Could they be real? The evidence remains ambiguous (at least until the climactic hullaballoo), but Caleb has help from enthusiastic classmate Tai Thompson, who's described as standing out from her "un-diverse" peers for being not only unusually small in stature and dressed as a fairy, but for having Asian and Caribbean heritage. Together they collect clues, dig into the town's tragic history, and, ultimately, expose a terrifying truth. The suspense and the amusingly eerie setting make effective hooks. So do both the developing friendship and an impulsive young protagonist whose emotional vulnerability in the wake of devastating family loss and sudden uprooting masks a streak of ingenuity that comes out not only in the clutch but all along in the inventive costumes he wears to school instead of the blandly conventional ones everyone else adopts. A twist at the suspiciously tidy tail end offers plenty of enticing potential for sequels. Thrills and chills in a gloriously goofy setting. (Light horror. 8-12) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
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Publishers Weekly Reviews

Heart and hilarity define this quirky All Hallow's Eve tale by debut author Virnig, who evokes the classic Halloween Town film series to ghoulish effect. Following his father's death, 11-year-old Caleb and his mother move from Los Angeles to her hometown—the Halloween-obsessed locale of Samhain, Wis.—for a fresh start. The first thing Caleb notices about Samhain is that everyone is in costume and acts like the character they're portraying—all the time. It also seems as if a hint of evil permeates the air. Luckily, he quickly befriends classmate Tai, who's dressed as "the World's Most Perfect Fairy," and with whom he's paired for a school project. As they work on their assignment, the duo soon uncovers oddities that are a little out of place, even for Samhain—particularly with the vampiric mayor—and that residents have been experiencing curious memory lapses. Surrounded by witchy neighbors, werewolf teachers, and other things that go bump in the night, Caleb must navigate feelings of grief and isolation; levying hijinks balance weightier themes of loss and adjusting to a new normal. Caleb and Tai are depicted on the cover with pale and brown skin, respectively. Ages 8–12. Agent: Jim McCarthy, Dystel, Goderich & Bourret. (Aug.)

Copyright 2024 Publishers Weekly.

Copyright 2024 Publishers Weekly.
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School Library Journal Reviews

Gr 4–7—In this spooky middle grade adventure, Caleb and his mom relocate to the town of Samhain, WI, where Halloween is always on full display. Costumes in school are expected, businesses are decked out with themed decor, and even the mayor's office keeps "vampire hours." But when his English teacher's fangs and fur seem a bit too real, and his next door neighbor brews potions and has a wand, Caleb begins to wonder if Samhain is hiding a dark secret. Thankfully, he can rely on his friend and classmate Tai to help unravel this mystery, and they research and test theories to ward off werewolves and witches. Their actions raise the suspicions of the mayor, and what follows is a race to expose the truth behind Samhain to the rest of the town before Caleb and Tai's efforts are undone. The book strikes a good balance of humor alongside the horror: Caleb's daily choice of punny costume (e.g., writing "Go Ceiling Go!" on his hoodie to become a "ceiling fan") was a regular feature, and Caleb and Tai's illustrated monster research manual was peppered with good-humored sniping between them. A nighttime escape from a giant in the town library and full moon encounters with werewolves bring tension, but the book never gets so intense as to scare off readers. This is a good read-alike for fans of Kory Merritt's No Place For Monsters. VERDICT A fun title to get into the hands of middle graders, especially ones who can't get enough of Halloween.—Michael Van Wambeke

Copyright 2024 School Library Journal.

Copyright 2024 School Library Journal.
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