New York Times Book Review of "A Properly Unhaunted Place"
Kelly Murphy's latest chapter book, A Properly Unhaunted Place, written by National Book Award-winning author William Alexander was reviewed in The New York Times."'A Properly Unhaunted Place' begins evocatively, in a setting that is strange and full of questions. This fifth book from William Alexander, who won a National Book Award for "Goblin Secrets," creates an unsettling tone of mystery[...]"
"Helped by Kelly Murphy's provocative illustrations, peppered throughout the book, Alexander has created a cautionary tale and a profound and beautiful work. (My only complaint is that there are not enough illustrations to make them absolutely necessary - I'd have liked more of them, but this is a rather small criticism). This novel explores the very idea of books, the purpose of libraries and the rather large theme of why the present must embrace a relationship with the past. It reminds us that if we are not brave enough to live alongside the haunting past, then we risk becoming nothing more than ghosts, haunting the earth but never inhabiting it."
—Benjamin Alire Sáenz
Posted on October 6th, 2017See more news about Reviews, New York Times
Starred Review from Kirkus Reviews for "A Properly Unhaunted Place"
Kelly Murphy's latest chapter book, A Properly Unhaunted Place, written by National Book Award-winning author William Alexander and published by Simon and Schuster, has received a starred review from Kirkus."In a world where hauntings are endemic, Rosa Díaz finds herself in a town suspiciously devoid of ghostly activity in Alexander's (Nomad, 2016, etc.) latest.
Latina protagonist Rosa is not your usual new-to-town middle school student. Rosa is an apprentice appeasement specialist. Her skills in placating restless souls are going to waste in the small town of Ingot, a place where people go to escape their hauntings, not to appease them. The placid lack of supernatural phenomena ends when an angry spirit gate-crashes opening day of the town Renaissance festival embodied in the carcass of a mountain lion. With the help of a new acquaintance, 11-year-old mixed-race (black/white) Jasper, Rosa sets out to solve the mysteries of where the phantom came from and why no others exist in this quaint town. Alexander does an excellent job of building a contemporary world in which the paranormal is nevertheless ubiquitous and expected. This haunted world begs for further exploration. Though it's a perfectly enjoyable tale on a purely superficial level, readers who choose to dig deeper will find an engrossing exploration of complicated grief and what damage may be wrought when negative emotions are barricaded away rather than addressed.
A fun and fast-paced supernatural mystery with secret depths for those who dare explore them."
Posted on May 24th, 2017See more news about Kirkus, Starred Reviews