This Appearing House

June 1, 2022
A tale of survival, friendship, and the strength that comes from overcoming fears. Middle schooler Jac is dealing with the fallout of a real-life nightmare: childhood cancer. But it's not just the fear of recurrence that she has to handle, but the reality of surviving and carrying the burden of her mom's constant worry. When Jac discovers a large house that wasn't there before looming at the end of a street in her suburban New Jersey neighborhood, she worries it's a hallucination, which could mean a recurrence of her illness. But after her best friend, a boy named Hazel, sees the house too, her sense of adventure takes over. Provoked by a couple of bullies who dare them to enter and then follow them inside, Jac and Hazel explore the house and are met with surprises--like a key with Jac's likeness on it--that suggest her connection to this strange and terrifying place is personal. Before long, the kids realize they are trapped inside. Shocks follow with every new door they open as they search for an exit and discover ever increasing frights. Delightfully nightmarish visions chase Jac, offering the feel of a thrilling game with twisted and terrifying imagery, as she navigates the house, seeking to understand her connection to this unusual place in this emotionally resonant story. Characters seem to default to White. Offers a hauntingly truthful view of secrets and strength. (Paranormal. 8-12)

COPYRIGHT(2022) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

June 27, 2022
When a gabled, turreted house with “a way of watching you” arrives wholly built one October at the end of a suburban New Jersey cul-de-sac, 12-year-old Jacqueline “Jac” Price-Dupree is sure it has appeared out of nowhere. Following “Everything Jac Went Through”—a brain tumor and treatment followed by nearly five years with “No Evidence of Disease”—Jac is tired of her worried librarian mother watching her closely in the new town where they moved for a fresh start. Concerning signs—headaches, hand tremors, and stumbling—suggest a recurrence just as the house suddenly appears, but tension over whether the structure is real dissipates when her friend Hazel and another neighbor also perceive it. Dared by two bullies to enter the house, Jac and Hazel plunge into a nightmarish, moldering web of rooms; soon, Jac is trapped with apparitions and elements that suggest an association between the two. Employing haunted house tropes, Malinenko’s (Ghost Girl) ominous telling explores layers of anxiety; if the messaging is occasionally heavy-handed, a strong third-person voice accurately evokes the feeling of long-bubbling uncertainty as well as familial and personal fear amid recovery. Characters cue as white; an author’s note concludes. Ages 8–12. Agent: Rena Rossner, Deborah Harris Agency.

Starred review from December 1, 2022

Gr 5 Up-Jac has been in remission from her childhood cancer for almost exactly five years-but just as the anniversary approaches, so do frightening symptoms and a mysterious house that Jac has never seen before but feels inexplicably drawn to. When Jac and her friend Hazel enter the house on a dare, they learn it is no ordinary house, and there may be no way back out. This horror novel with some fantasy elements deeply explores the trauma caused by disease and grief, and its impact on those we love, as well as healing through facing our experiences. Readers will be gripped not only by the terror of a truly haunted house, but also the brutal honesty of Jac on her path to becoming whole. Most characters are cued as white. VERDICT Highly recommended; not only for those who have experienced trauma, but for those who love them as well. A gripping, poignant addition to juvenile fiction collections.-Emily Beasley

Copyright 2022 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.