Tuesday, September 12, 2023

Hush-A-Bye by Jody Lee Mott - ADVISABLE

Hush-A-Bye
by Jody Lee Mott
, 220 pages. Viking (Penguin), 2021 $9 (paperback). 

Language: G (0 swears 0 'f'); Mature Content: G; Violence: PG (mild horror violence) 

BUYING ADVISORY: EL, MS - ADVISABLE 

AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE 

6th grader Lucy is not looking forward to the torture of school after a glorious summer of freedom. But her little sister, Antonia is joining her this year, so even if she has to lie, Lucy will put on a brave face for her. The day before school starts, Lucy finds a broken doll head buried in the riverside muck and Antonia is drawn to it immediately. Neither Lucy nor Antonia have a clue what they have unleashed - a demon which is very, very good at getting its way. Unless they resist, the danger will become permanent. 

The cover does nothing to convey how spooky this book is. If it had a cover like a K.R. Alexander book, it would sell much more quickly. The evil doll trope is very popular in horror fiction, but Mott manages to be creepy enough without stumbling into over the top. The characters default white. 

Cindy, Library Teacher

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