March 15, 2011
Grades 4-6 Were in the midst of a supernatural nonfiction book rush, but few are as genuinely hair-raising as the Scary Places series. As with the publishers similarly creepy HorrorScapes series, the high-interest text is ideal for reluctant readers, with each two-page spread focusing on a single horrifying habitat. While not especially sophisticated, the layout is nonetheless effective, with cunning integration of stock art, photographs, period illustrations, gritty textures, andscarier than anything elsethe prevalent use of grainy snapshots showing the interiors of various abandoned buildings and cellars. Monstrous Morgues of the Past turns up some stories that will have young readers agape: the Parisian morgue that became a tourist sensation, the haunted lab where 1,400 brains of the mentally ill were kept in jars, the shipwreck disaster that haunted Oprah Winfreys Harpo Studios. Boxed factoids (or folklore) ratchet up the thrills throughout, and a map and glossary cap off the fine back matter.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2011, American Library Association.)
July 1, 2011
Hospitals, morgues, and desert islands are just a few of the purportedly haunted locales (all real places) profiled in this series. Each double-page spread includes a summary of the site's reported paranormal phenomena along with photographs; the scrapbook-style layout is busy but readable. Although the texts aren't always precise (or accurate) in their definitions, the volumes are generally satisfactory. Reading list. Bib., glos., ind.
(Copyright 2011 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)