Shadowghast

August 15, 2021
Instead of Halloween, Eerie-on-Sea townsfolk celebrate Ghastly Night, lighting manglewick candles to keep the legendary Shadowghast from stealing their shadows. This year, candles won't be enough. The holiday commemorates a stranger's mesmerizing shadow-puppet show in which Eerie townsfolk watched the shadow of a grinning, horned man chase and consume fleeing shadows, human and otherwise. Cheated of payment by Eerie's duplicitous mayor, the puppet master fed his shadow to the Shadowghast. (The mayor himself vanished). Dr. Thalassi and Mrs. Fossil retell these historical events annually. They're blindsided when charismatic stage magician Caliastra arrives with her agent and two mimes, planning to re-create the story theatrically. Caliastra dazzles Herbie; claiming she's his aunt, she invites him to be her assistant. Violet, Herbie's fellow orphan, is skeptical--and also worried because her guardian is missing. Their friendship suffers, but as Mrs. Fossil disappears and Shadowghast sightings accumulate, the two put aside differences for dangerous investigations that lead to Sebastian Eels' empty house and the Netherways, a labyrinth of underground passageways. When quick-witted, intrepid Violet is sidelined, cautious, risk-averse Herbie needs a gutsy plan and help from Erwin, the oracular cat, and Clermit, the charming, clockwork hermit crab. Eclipsing clowns in sheer creepiness, the mimes are nastily memorable creations. Inventive plotting, spooky atmospherics, and quirky humor will keep readers entertained. Characters are minimally described, but prior entries and names signal some diversity in the default White cast. Final illustrations not seen. Readers will revel in the shivery mood. (Fantasy. 8-12)

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September 1, 2021

Gr 5 Up-As the residents of Eerie-on-Sea anticipate Ghastly Night, their Halloween tradition, a troupe of entertainers arrive, led by the beautiful magician Caliastra, who claims to be Herbie Lemon's aunt and the lone survivor of the shipwreck that orphaned him and washed him ashore in a lemon crate. But Herbie's spunky friend Violet and his guardian, Lady Kraken, owner of the Grant Nautilus Hotel, where Herbie is the Lost-and-Founder, question the truth of Caliastra's claim. The magician is in possession of the magic lantern, which releases the Shadowghast, a ghost that absorbs shadows and makes their owners unwilling subjects of a sinister and mysterious Puppet Master. When Violet's guardian Jenny and eccentric beachcomber Mrs. Flotsam go missing, Herbie and Violet embark on a mission to find their friends and discover the deep secret of Eerie-on-Sea. Filled with all of the exciting twists, delicious humor, vivid characterization, and visual description of other books in the series (Malamander, Gargantis), readers will relish this third foray into the unique town and its memorable inhabitants. Herbie is cued as white. VERDICT Another imaginative winner in the series that will appeal to all readers.-Marie Orlando, formerly at Suffolk Coop. Lib. Syst., Bellport, NY

Copyright 2021 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

September 1, 2021
Grades 4-6 In this third spooky episode set in the aptly named Eerie-On-Sea (Malamander, 2019; Gargantis, 2020) parentless foundling Herbert Lemon and his intrepid (and likewise parentless) friend, Violet Parma, find themselves defending everyone in town from a demon that robs people of their will by snatching their shadows. Along with tucking in atmospheric details like a dragon-headed magic lantern and mysterious "manglewick" candles, Taylor trots in a glamorous visiting magician and her entourage (who are plainly up to no good), sends his young sleuths skittering through dark rooms and underground passages, and winds events up to a frantic climax in a dusty theater where the townsfolk have gathered for a Ghastly Night puppet show on Halloween. Alongside Booth's occasional accompanying creepy illustrations (not seen in finished form), the author hits all the right notes for readers who delight in having (as Herbert puts it) their "niblets go knobbly."

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