Hair-raising chases through dark, menacing secret passageways combine with an effective mingling of genuine school angst and the more spectral variety to create a scary, suspenseful, and chillingly immersive experience.” — Kirkus Reviews
“A twisted mystery. This ghostly tale lives up to the chills suggested by the title.” — Publishers Weekly
“Avi takes readers on a wild ride where the dead do far more than haunt the living. Hand this spine-tingling work to readers who have embraced Ransom Riggs’s Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children and Cornelia Funke’s Ghost Knight. ” — School Library Journal
“Will leave more than a few hearts pounding. Give this to readers who like an old-fashioned ghost story with a contemporary twist.” — ALA Booklist
Praise for CRISPIN: THE END OF TIME: “Avi guides his hero toward a final, very satisfying destiny in this wonderfully realized conclusion to the Crispin trilogy. A heart-stopping read .... Thrilling and beautifully wrought.” — Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
Praise for CRISPIN: THE END OF TIME: “The action is nonstop and danger is around every corner. The first-person voice lends a sense of urgency to the novel, and Avi’s writing style is as elegant and engaging as ever.” — School Library Journal
Praise for CRISPIN: THE END OF TIME: “This final volume in the Crispin trilogy showcases the same strengths as the earlier books: brisk, suspenseful narrative with effortlessly interwoven details of medieval life and provocative questions of ethics and morality. Another rousing page-turner.” — The Horn Book
Praise for CRISPIN: THE END OF TIME: “This final volume in the Crispin trilogy showcases the same strengths as the earlier books: brisk, suspenseful narrative with effortlessly interwoven details of medieval life and provocative questions of ethics and morality. Another rousing page-turner.
Will leave more than a few hearts pounding. Give this to readers who like an old-fashioned ghost story with a contemporary twist.
Narrator Michael Crouch’s boyish voice brings life to the dead in this middle-grade ghost story. Tony Gilbert has always been nervous around his Uncle Charlie, a weird old man who is fascinated by death. But when Uncle Charlie moves in with Tony’s family, he and Charlie become close. After Charlie’s death, Tony enrolls at Charlie’s alma mater, Penda School. Then, Uncle Charlie comes back—and he’s not the only ghost that Tony sees at his new school. The novel’s conclusion and Crouch’s delivery lack the urgency to make this a truly gripping listen. Nonetheless, Crouch brings a perfect dose of early adolescent angst to Tony’s story and creates some creepiness with a croaking voice for Uncle Charlie. E.C. © AudioFile 2016, Portland, Maine
Narrator Michael Crouch’s boyish voice brings life to the dead in this middle-grade ghost story. Tony Gilbert has always been nervous around his Uncle Charlie, a weird old man who is fascinated by death. But when Uncle Charlie moves in with Tony’s family, he and Charlie become close. After Charlie’s death, Tony enrolls at Charlie’s alma mater, Penda School. Then, Uncle Charlie comes back—and he’s not the only ghost that Tony sees at his new school. The novel’s conclusion and Crouch’s delivery lack the urgency to make this a truly gripping listen. Nonetheless, Crouch brings a perfect dose of early adolescent angst to Tony’s story and creates some creepiness with a croaking voice for Uncle Charlie. E.C. © AudioFile 2016, Portland, Maine
2016-03-16
In order to fulfill his dead great-uncle's wish, seventh-grader Tony begins attending the spooky, rambling, and possibly haunted Penda School. Classmate Jessica reaches out to him, perhaps offering friendship, but he's aware that she's a strange, unpopular girl (and seems to look a lot like Morticia from her description). The more people warn him to avoid her, however, the more determined he becomes to remain her friend. He keeps seeing the ghosts of both his uncle and a boy who died over 100 years ago, the son of the school's founder, even though he's pretty sure he doesn't believe in ghosts. Worse yet, the boy seems desperate to make real contact with him, but Jessica warns him that the ghost wants to capture his soul. Although Tony's narration can sound more authorial than like the voice of a 12-year-old, this atmospheric tale has plenty of creepiness to propel it, sometimes at a breathtaking pace. As it becomes clear that Jessica cannot be trusted, Tony also realizes that she might be just one of multiple threats, making him—and readers—doubt everyone. Hair-raising chases through dark, menacing secret passageways with the not-quite-dead at Tony's heels combine with an effective mingling of genuine school angst and the more spectral variety to create a scary, suspenseful, and chillingly immersive experience. The jacket illustration paints Tony as white. Don't read this one in a dark and haunted school. (Horror. 10-14)
