House of Ash by Hope Cook - OPTIONAL

Cook, Hope House of Ash, 308 pages.  Amulet (Abrams), 2017.  $18.  Language: R (100+ swears, 32 ‘f’); Mature Content: R (drinking, body touching); Violence: R (deaths, brutal fighting)

Mila is a typical Victorian girl, but there is something super-creepy about her new stepfather; she is determined to protect herself and her little sister, Wynn, at all costs.  Curtis knows that his father is crazy – but so far he has been able to get him to take his pills and has kept his sister Sage from the worst of it all.  Though decades and a violent fire separates the two, Curtis and Mila’s fates are entwined.  If they can’t figure out how to break the curse of Gravenhearst, more than they are doomed to destruction.

Cook has written a gripping gothic horror novel.  Unfortunately too much of the language comes off as thrown in, but a reaction to stress or dire situations. 

HS – OPTIONAL.  Cindy, Library Teacher