A middle grade novel about Mothman? With two of my favorite things together, it's almost like this was written for me. This was fun, scary, and had a lot of heart. ( )

This review originally found at The Children's Book and Media Review

Josie lives in one of the most haunted towns in America, but she’s never seen anything paranormal until now. At one of the auctions her dad does, her brother Fox discovers a Polaroid camera that always has a picture of the ghost of John Goodrich. John tries to warn them against a curse that has been in the area of Athens, Ohio, for over a hundred years. Josie gets cursed by Mothman, an insect creature bent on proving that humans are selfish and will always choose to save themselves before saving someone else. Josie has to find out the history of the Mothman and his curse so that she can break it to save her own life and the lives of many people around her.

Based on a local legend in the area of Point Pleasant, West Virginia, and Ohio, Mothman’s Curse takes the story to younger audiences. The book is spooky, with scary encounters with ghosts, tales of murder, and Mothman selling his soul in exchange for revenge on the woman who broke his heart and the ability to curse people for generations. There is a lot going on with the background of the curse, sometimes making it difficult to follow along with everything that is going on. One of the best parts of the story is how close Josie’s family is and how willing her siblings are to help her, even when it looks certain that Josie will not succeed with her quest to break the curse. Mothman’s Curse is a heart-pounding story for readers who like to read spooky tales. ( )

A middle grade novel about Mothman? With two of my favorite things together, it's almost like this was written for me. This was fun, scary, and had a lot of heart. ( )

If you like scary novels, here’s one for you!

Josie’s family owns the local auction house. A famous recluse has passed away in a nearby town, and they are auctioning off his estate. Mr. Goodrich was famous because his town was covered in a landslide and most people were killed. They should have survived because he and his wife warned everyone to move away, but few people moved because everyone thought the Goodriches were crazy. Now that he is dead, no one is around to foretell the next disaster, so he haunts Josie and her brother. They find an old Polaroid camera from the estate that has no film in it, but every picture is of Mr. Goodrich, and his lips are moving. They can’t tell what he’s trying to say, except “Save them.”

Josie and her brother begin researching and everything they learn indicates that many people are going to die including Josie. It’s a frightening book about a famous creature that may or may not exist, Mothman.

I’m not a fan of the “scary” novel, but I thought this was pretty well done. I think the cover is too childish, but the story has many really tense moments. ( )