This book is about a little girl named Mary McScary. She loves to scare people. There is one person she can scare, her cousin Harry McScary. Mary tries and tries to scare Harry, but he likes everything that she tries to use to scare him. When Mary put on a monster suit, Harry complimented her new "hair-do" instead of getting scared. After many attempts to make Harry scream, Mary gives up. She accept the fact that she can't scare her cousin. As a symbol of her defeat, she gives Harry a kiss on his cheek. Little did she know, a kiss from a girl is what Harry's biggest fear. Mary finally scared Harry.

*I listened to this book in audiobook form*

This book is about a little girl, Mary McScary, who loves to frighten people. She goes out of her way to scare everyone in her life, no matter what time of day it is. However, she can't seem to scare her cousin, Harry McScary. Mary tries and tries to scare Harry, but he likes everything that she tries to use to scare him. For example, when Mary puts on a monster suit, Harry compliments her new "hair-do" instead of getting scared. After many attempts to make Harry scream, Mary gives up. She comes to terms with the fact that she just can't scare her cousin. As a symbol of her defeat, she gives Harry a kiss on his cheek. Little did she know, a kiss from a girl is what Harry fears the most! Her kiss sent him out of the door screaming. Mary achieved her goal!

The central message of this book is that people can have very different reactions to things than you expect them to. For example, Mary tries to scare Harry with a bunch of big spiders. Mary expects him to be scared, but he thinks they're cute and cuddly. When Mary gives Harry a kiss, she expects him to appreciate it, but the kiss makes him run away screaming. ( )

R.L. Stine’s special scary reputation is still alive and well in his newest picture book. Mary McScary is the scariest girl around; she scares her mom and dad, her pets, and is so scary she can even scare a balloon! There is one person, however, that she cannot seem to scare no matter how hard she tries: her cousin, Harry McScary. The scariest things that Mary can think of will NOT scare Harry; should Mary just give up? Stine uses his spooky ways to create yet another great children’s book. Mary McScary is a fun read aloud for Halloween or when talking with children about emotions. The illustrations bring the story to life, portraying emotions from each character. Brown uses colors in the illustrations of the rooms to show how the characters are feeling; he uses more red when Mary feels angry and blue when she is upset. He also includes famous paintings in the illustrations such as The Scream by Edvard Munch and others. Stine and Brown successfully create another spooky and fun story for children that readers will love.
BIBLIO: 2017, Orchard Books, Ages 7-10, $16.99.
REVIEWER: Stacey Terlizzi
FORMAT: Picture Book
ISBN: 978-1-338-03856-9

Author R.L. Stine and illustrator Marc Brown, who previously collaborated on The Little Shop of Monsters, join forces again with this second picture-book venture, this time chronicling the (mis)adventures of the eponymous Mary McScary, a young girl who relishes frightening others. From her pet to her parents, Mary knows how to be scary. Unfortunately, the one person she can't seem to frighten, her cousin Harry McScary, is coming for a visit...

I was surprised to find, given the fact that I enjoyed this author/illustrator team's earlier book, that Mary McScary left me cold, and not in a good, shivery way. Somehow I just couldn't work up any interest in the story, or in whether Mary succeeded in her quest to scare Harry. I also wasn't really impressed by the artwork, in the same way I was in the monster shop book. Tastes vary, so I imagine some will find this an engagingly scary tale, but for me it fell a little flat. ( )