Publishers Weekly Review
| In a tale that manages to be both cute and horrifying, bestselling novelist and screenwriter Barker ( Imajica ) puts the dark side back into childhood fantasy, recalling the violent undercurrents of the Grimm Brothers' tales and other classics. When archetypal 10-year-old Harvey Swick desperately wishes to be delivered from a boring February afternoon, he is miraculously rescued by Rictus, a smiling (if somewhat sinister) creature. Rictus takes Harvey to the Holiday House, where every morning is spring, every afternoon is summer and every evening offers Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas in quick succession. Barker masterfully embroiders this fantasy world with a mounting number of grim, even gruesome details. Harvey must heroically battle what is gradually revealed to be the malevolent force behind the Holiday House in order to save not only himself but all its previous young guests. Barker's own illustrations convey the story's deceptively sweet appeal. A welcome modern-day return to a classic form, this fable lives up to the publisher's billing as a tale for all ages. 100,000 first printing; $140,000 ad/promo; Literary Guild, Doubleday and Sci-Fi Book Club alternates; author tour. (Nov.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved |
School Library Journal Review
| YA-- What teens could resist an opening line like ``The great gray beast February had eaten Harvey Swick alive''? Harvey succumbs to the lure of instant pleasure, and lives to battle his way back to the real world twice , in order to regain all that he has lost. Lots of white space and full-page black-and-white illustrations invite readers to harken back to their younger days and the pleasures of folk and fairy tale collections. A candidate for reading aloud, this new twist on the fable genre may lead to independent writings or a new appreciation of the form. Layered with both supernatural elements and a large dose of horror, this one will entice fantasy fans to broaden their reading interests.-- Barbara Hawkins, Oakton High School, Fairfax, VA (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. |
