hexychick's review against another edition
4.0
I'm not sure this is even young adult fiction because it seems a wee bit younger than that, but a breezy read and good for a switch up. The only disappointment were the illustrations. They seemed more like sketches leading to better work and if you've followed Katy's website over the years, you know she had the skills to amp it up. Overall I liked the story and I can see myself sharing this with my kids in the future.
jnikolova's review against another edition
4.0
It's a really entertaining little book. I have to admit I'm a sucker for weird/creepy children's(of sorts) books(i.e. Gaiman's Caroline, Lemony Snicket's Series of Unfortunate events). Skary Childrin is the story of three misfit girls who are considered by their teachers and pupils as scary. But when the townsfolk starts disappearing mysteriously, the girls venture in an investigation with their new friend, another outsider kid, and solve the whole mystery. From the very beginning of the book I keep seeing it as a Tim Burton movie and a really cool at that. The story is quite short, but it would make a great family movie! I'd totally watch it!
squishies's review against another edition
4.0
I've always loved Towell's style and this book is no different to her animation shorts.
leslie_d's review against another edition
3.0
Have you seen that Care Bear television episode or movie where there is a boy who is bullied and this monster takes him over and he becomes super creepy? He was so evil no one was sure the Care Stare would be enough. It came to mind near the end; which is strange because Skary Childrin and the Carousel of Sorrow is far from cheesy or sappy—but it may cause nausea. However, the nausea would come from picturing oozing vomit-covered bodies, and that crow plucking at a worm—no! a finger?! Or physical illness may result from serious anxiety, because there is something seriously creepy going on in Widowsbury and our Skary Childrin are not going to have an easy time figuring out what is going on, and even then…
"It was a very odd thing, how starkly the atmosphere changed once one crossed the border between the park and the woods. It was as if someone had drawn a line in the perpetually brown lawn of the park and said, All right. This is ours. The rest is for evil. It wasn’t merely the landscape that changed. The sky was actually darker in the woods. The park sounded miles away even if one stood exactly at the edge. Here the trees reached their naked limbs up and scratched at the dark sky, distortions in the bark making faces paralyzed in anguish. Mist crept low to the ground, curling around each whispering tree as if searching for something it had lost." (158).
Katy Towell has certainly captured that atmospheric in her isolated community of Widowsbury and even more specifically, Madame Gertrude’s School for Girls. The Headmistress is horrid and so are most of the students. There are the ghosts and the Wailing Room. And there are three peculiar girls: “Adelaide Foss has an uncanny resemblance to a werewolf, Maggie Borland is abnormally strong, and Beatrice Alfred claims to be able to see ghosts (she’s also an atrocious speller)” (jacket copy). Things are creepy and weird, and not solely in that quirky-charming kind of way. No, Towell may have humor and style, but she is hard-core set on sending some real chills her young readers’ way. And very real uncertainty. If Towell were to be accused of using a cookie-cutter, it would be deliciously warped one. Maybe something borrowed from when scary stories where still skary.
A less peculiar yet delightfully unusual boy shares the narrative and the adventure: Steffen Weller, son of the cook at Rudyard’s School for Boys (where he cannot afford to attend). He is homeschooled, invents various contraptions, and eats peanut butter sandwiches. He is our access to the world outside Gertrude’s and proves a great counterweight to the peculiar girls. While readers are sure to empathize with the girls, our empathy with Steffan is the more “normal” outcast. Still, especially thinking as a girl, the “gifts” the girls have aren’t the sort a 9-12 would see as kick-ass in real life application, not when normal could mean torment avoidance. And while one would think ‘at least the three girls have each other’ that isn’t the case—not initially. It is only when Miss Delia Peet—the new Librarian—shows up—and then disappears—that everything changes for Adelaide, Beatrice, and Maggie. Steffen finds his own pivotal meeting…
The chapters can be long, and we can be left hanging and wondering a bit. The chaptering makes sense, its just something even Natalya noted as unusual. Towell apparently trusts herself and the attention spans of readers—and well she should. The story isn’t interested toward racing to the end, more like creaking down the hallway and peering through cracks and keyholes in locked doors. I was unable to read this without interruption, but it is absorbing and the story favors an anticipation that has you peeking through fingers—you want resolution and hopefully one person to survive. But there are hardly guarantees. And then you are near the end and the girls, locked in a room while the towns folk are being, well—anyway, the girls are actually getting to know one another while they pass the time in a state other than abject terror.
I see another book coming. The girls and Steffen are resourceful, having interesting abilities, and are very brave, very good, and pretty likeable. You know, with that storm 12 years previous having opened up a gate for weird things to enter Widowsbury, the inhabitants of Pernicious Valley could have their own “Hellsmouth under Sunnydale” (Buffy the Vampire Slayer). Katy Towell creates a great dynamic between characters, and she translates horrible images really well—whether it be someone’s humiliation on stage or their sharp nails scritching on your upper story window in the middle of the night. She is a nice addition to the relatively small collection of truly creepy tales haunting the juvenile fiction shelves.
recommendations… Upper Grade-school into Middle; girls and boys. It is not as scary as Chris Priestly and his Tales of Terror, but it flinches less than Adam Gidwitz in his A Tale Dark and Grimm where he warns you something outright gross or evil is about to happen—I wasn’t sure with Towell… She doesn’t seem as interested being clever so much as just entertaining and meaningful—normal juvenile fiction fare—only with that nice touch abnormal and–well, children have grown out of carousels by this age right? Anyway–if you like scary stories; messages about the evils of bullies; and/or courageous figures with peculiarities.
of note… this is a good R.eader’s I.mbibing P.eril (RIP) read for your youth; even the more sensitive and/or non-reader may find this a pleasant foray into the skarier stories–you’ll at least be sure they’ll never take candy from a stranger again anyhow.
L (omphaloskepsis)
http://contemplatrix.wordpress.com/2012/09/28/book-skary-childrin/
"It was a very odd thing, how starkly the atmosphere changed once one crossed the border between the park and the woods. It was as if someone had drawn a line in the perpetually brown lawn of the park and said, All right. This is ours. The rest is for evil. It wasn’t merely the landscape that changed. The sky was actually darker in the woods. The park sounded miles away even if one stood exactly at the edge. Here the trees reached their naked limbs up and scratched at the dark sky, distortions in the bark making faces paralyzed in anguish. Mist crept low to the ground, curling around each whispering tree as if searching for something it had lost." (158).
Katy Towell has certainly captured that atmospheric in her isolated community of Widowsbury and even more specifically, Madame Gertrude’s School for Girls. The Headmistress is horrid and so are most of the students. There are the ghosts and the Wailing Room. And there are three peculiar girls: “Adelaide Foss has an uncanny resemblance to a werewolf, Maggie Borland is abnormally strong, and Beatrice Alfred claims to be able to see ghosts (she’s also an atrocious speller)” (jacket copy). Things are creepy and weird, and not solely in that quirky-charming kind of way. No, Towell may have humor and style, but she is hard-core set on sending some real chills her young readers’ way. And very real uncertainty. If Towell were to be accused of using a cookie-cutter, it would be deliciously warped one. Maybe something borrowed from when scary stories where still skary.
A less peculiar yet delightfully unusual boy shares the narrative and the adventure: Steffen Weller, son of the cook at Rudyard’s School for Boys (where he cannot afford to attend). He is homeschooled, invents various contraptions, and eats peanut butter sandwiches. He is our access to the world outside Gertrude’s and proves a great counterweight to the peculiar girls. While readers are sure to empathize with the girls, our empathy with Steffan is the more “normal” outcast. Still, especially thinking as a girl, the “gifts” the girls have aren’t the sort a 9-12 would see as kick-ass in real life application, not when normal could mean torment avoidance. And while one would think ‘at least the three girls have each other’ that isn’t the case—not initially. It is only when Miss Delia Peet—the new Librarian—shows up—and then disappears—that everything changes for Adelaide, Beatrice, and Maggie. Steffen finds his own pivotal meeting…
The chapters can be long, and we can be left hanging and wondering a bit. The chaptering makes sense, its just something even Natalya noted as unusual. Towell apparently trusts herself and the attention spans of readers—and well she should. The story isn’t interested toward racing to the end, more like creaking down the hallway and peering through cracks and keyholes in locked doors. I was unable to read this without interruption, but it is absorbing and the story favors an anticipation that has you peeking through fingers—you want resolution and hopefully one person to survive. But there are hardly guarantees. And then you are near the end and the girls, locked in a room while the towns folk are being, well—anyway, the girls are actually getting to know one another while they pass the time in a state other than abject terror.
I see another book coming. The girls and Steffen are resourceful, having interesting abilities, and are very brave, very good, and pretty likeable. You know, with that storm 12 years previous having opened up a gate for weird things to enter Widowsbury, the inhabitants of Pernicious Valley could have their own “Hellsmouth under Sunnydale” (Buffy the Vampire Slayer). Katy Towell creates a great dynamic between characters, and she translates horrible images really well—whether it be someone’s humiliation on stage or their sharp nails scritching on your upper story window in the middle of the night. She is a nice addition to the relatively small collection of truly creepy tales haunting the juvenile fiction shelves.
recommendations… Upper Grade-school into Middle; girls and boys. It is not as scary as Chris Priestly and his Tales of Terror, but it flinches less than Adam Gidwitz in his A Tale Dark and Grimm where he warns you something outright gross or evil is about to happen—I wasn’t sure with Towell… She doesn’t seem as interested being clever so much as just entertaining and meaningful—normal juvenile fiction fare—only with that nice touch abnormal and–well, children have grown out of carousels by this age right? Anyway–if you like scary stories; messages about the evils of bullies; and/or courageous figures with peculiarities.
of note… this is a good R.eader’s I.mbibing P.eril (RIP) read for your youth; even the more sensitive and/or non-reader may find this a pleasant foray into the skarier stories–you’ll at least be sure they’ll never take candy from a stranger again anyhow.
L (omphaloskepsis)
http://contemplatrix.wordpress.com/2012/09/28/book-skary-childrin/
mediocremasen's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.75
This book is so good. It's interesting and keeps you guessing.
It's like a mix of Matilda and Goosebumps.
There are a few mysteries and while not everything may be answered, I wasn't terribly bothered by that. Katy Towell is always great at crafting the setting and this is another wonderful example of that.
Everything is so interesting and unique, plus the illustrations elevate the entire thing.
It's like a mix of Matilda and Goosebumps.
There are a few mysteries and while not everything may be answered, I wasn't terribly bothered by that. Katy Towell is always great at crafting the setting and this is another wonderful example of that.
Everything is so interesting and unique, plus the illustrations elevate the entire thing.
dlightfull's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
themadmaiden's review against another edition
5.0
Highly excellent book. I enjoyed it a great deal and I'm going to have to buy it for myself. Loved the pictures.
mackle13's review against another edition
3.0
2.5
Adelaide, Maggie and Beatrice are trouble. Or, at least, they're different which, for the other students and teachers at Miss Gertrude's amounts to the same thing, since the three are often blamed for every bad thing that happens in the school.
But then comes Miss Delia, a new librarian who, instead of automatically condemning the children befriends them. Their good fortune is short-lived, however, as Miss Delia disappears mysteriously, and the children come together to find her, befriending each other and a boy called Steffen along the way.
There are some mildly creepy moments - probably moreso for the younger set this book is targetted at - but, overall, it was more a book about not fitting in and finding friends than anything else.
I felt like the mindless cruelty of the teachers and students was a bit much - though it did remind me a little bit of young Jane Eyre, and the threat of the Wailing Room reminded me of the Red Room.
And the villain was disappointing. He could've been very sympathetic. He could've encompassed a good lesson about the dangers of bullying, which seems to be something the author tried for, but he was just so over-the-top ridiculous that I found him more annoying than sympathetic.
I did like the main characters, though. They felt mostly realistic, and I liked the different ways they were portrayed. Watching them become friends and learning to accept their differentness made it a decent story for the younger set, especially those who like a bit of creepiness tied in with their moral lessons.
I would like more explanation about the Great Storm that changed the town, though. It was left open enough for a possible sequel, so perhaps we'll get a bit more detail if any books follow. (It wasn't a cliffhanger or anything, and this story is definitely wrapped up. There's just a suggestion that this will hardly be the only mystery the 'childrin' will face.)
* Apparently the author has a website as does creepy sorts of videos. I am unfamiliar with her other work, so I have no baseline for comparison.
That said, some reviewers have suggested this story might work better as a graphic novel, and I have to agree. The illustrations throughout were a nice touch, and I do think the story was a good one, but the prose was a bit meh, overall.
I think a graphic novel treatment of this story could be really good.
ETA: I'm bumping this up to 2.5-3 (instead of 2-2.5), 'cause I did like the characters and wouldn't mind reading another in the series. And 'cause I keep thinking it deserves better than a 2, based on other 2s I've read recently.
Adelaide, Maggie and Beatrice are trouble. Or, at least, they're different which, for the other students and teachers at Miss Gertrude's amounts to the same thing, since the three are often blamed for every bad thing that happens in the school.
But then comes Miss Delia, a new librarian who, instead of automatically condemning the children befriends them. Their good fortune is short-lived, however, as Miss Delia disappears mysteriously, and the children come together to find her, befriending each other and a boy called Steffen along the way.
There are some mildly creepy moments - probably moreso for the younger set this book is targetted at - but, overall, it was more a book about not fitting in and finding friends than anything else.
I felt like the mindless cruelty of the teachers and students was a bit much - though it did remind me a little bit of young Jane Eyre, and the threat of the Wailing Room reminded me of the Red Room.
And the villain was disappointing. He could've been very sympathetic. He could've encompassed a good lesson about the dangers of bullying, which seems to be something the author tried for, but he was just so over-the-top ridiculous that I found him more annoying than sympathetic.
I did like the main characters, though. They felt mostly realistic, and I liked the different ways they were portrayed. Watching them become friends and learning to accept their differentness made it a decent story for the younger set, especially those who like a bit of creepiness tied in with their moral lessons.
I would like more explanation about the Great Storm that changed the town, though. It was left open enough for a possible sequel, so perhaps we'll get a bit more detail if any books follow. (It wasn't a cliffhanger or anything, and this story is definitely wrapped up. There's just a suggestion that this will hardly be the only mystery the 'childrin' will face.)
* Apparently the author has a website as does creepy sorts of videos. I am unfamiliar with her other work, so I have no baseline for comparison.
That said, some reviewers have suggested this story might work better as a graphic novel, and I have to agree. The illustrations throughout were a nice touch, and I do think the story was a good one, but the prose was a bit meh, overall.
I think a graphic novel treatment of this story could be really good.
ETA: I'm bumping this up to 2.5-3 (instead of 2-2.5), 'cause I did like the characters and wouldn't mind reading another in the series. And 'cause I keep thinking it deserves better than a 2, based on other 2s I've read recently.
cmcwhite_357's review against another edition
5.0
This is a highly engaging book that I found to have characters that are fleshed out and not one dimensional. A rarity in much current literature. The writing style is fast paced without feeling hurried. I found the boon to be approachable for bedtime reading both aloud to the teenager in the home or to ones self for personal adult enjoyment. Highly recommended for readers who enjoy a good pulpy read focused on a cast of youth who rise to the occasion and "..save the day..."
The protagonist in the story is every bit as hate-able as any villain I've read in recent novels.