The Nightmare House
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- 8,99 €
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- 8,99 €
Publisher Description
“A gorgeous book with scares enough for the brave at heart and heart enough for everyone. I loved every page.” —Lora Senf, author of The Clackity
In this spooky middle grade novel perfect for fans of Small Spaces, Doll Bones, and V. E. Schwab, a young girl’s deepest fears take on terrifying new life when she confronts a supernatural foe who can manipulate her nightmares.
Penny Hope used to be brave, but that was before she met the Fear Maker. Years later, he still haunts her dreams—a tall, thin man with red eyes, in a haunted house in the woods, who devours human souls and leaves his victims' eyes hollow and empty. Penny’s beloved grandma tells her to write down these nightmares as poems in her notebook. But then Penny starts seeing blank-eyed people in the waking world, too. She’s the only one who notices.
As more people around her fall prey to the Fear Maker, Penny must gather her courage once and for all to save the souls of those she loves. With the help of her notebook and a new friend, she ventures to the Fear Maker’s house. But the house is a labyrinth of nightmares and tricks—and the Fear Maker’s fun is just beginning.
In this just-scary-enough monster story that’s also about dealing with relentless anxiety, see how far a penny’s worth of hope will take you when you enter Sarah Allen’s The Nightmare House.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
White-cued 11-year-old Penny Hope's anxiety manifests as a real-life monster under her bed in this ethereal novel by Allen (Breathing Underwater). For the past four years, Penny's anxieties have been heightened by the presence of the Fear Maker, a creature of "nightmare and shadow" who lives beneath her bed. But now the Fear Maker, having become a corporeal entity, is stealing the "soul, their them-ness" of the people in her town. Only Penny can see her soulless neighbors' "blank, colorless, empty eyes," resulting in intense feelings of isolation. When her supportive poet grandmother encourages her to write about her fears and introduces her to homeschooled Indian-cued peer Aarush Banerjee, Penny feels as if she's found a bright spot. As the Fear Maker's power intensifies, however, Penny learns that to destroy him, she must "pick one thing you're afraid of, and do it." She resolves to face her fears by joining Aarush in a poetry contest, hoping to find the right words to overcome her anxieties. Poetic prose and visceral emotion infuse realistic depth into this mood-driven, allegorical portrayal of mental illness. Stark b&w illustrations by Hewitt employ a photo negative effect to accentuate Penny's brooding poems. Ages 10–12.
