A review by cornmaven
Nightbooks by J.A. White

4.0

Very nicely executed scary book for kids who have passed Goosebumps and are ready for a little more excitement - think Coraline, Joseph Delaney's The Ghost Prison, and Dan Poblocki.

Alex writes scary stories, having become addicted to the genre after watching The Night of the Living Dead at age 4. OK, so he's kind of an outlier, and having a little difficulty dealing with that. Lured into an apartment in his building, he becomes trapped there and forced to tell a scary story to the resident witch Natacha every night, a la 1001 Arabian Nights. Another kid, Yasmin is also stuck there, and they team up to figure out a way to escape.

This story also combines stories within a story, Hansel & Gretel, coming of age issues. I thoroughly enjoyed it, and kids who like scary stories will, too.