The Midnight Curse. L. M. Falcone. Toronto, ON: Kids Can Press, 2010. 208 pp., pbk. & hc., $10.95 (pbk.), $18.95 (hc.). ISBN 978-1-55453-359-6 (pbk.), ISBN 978-1-55453-358-9 (hc.). Grades 5-8 / Ages 10-13. Review by Laura Dunford. ***˝ /4

excerpt:

Eight seconds……seven……six……five……four……

My heart was in my throat.

Three……two……one.

Nothing happened.

The clock kept ticking.

“See?” said Charlie.

My whole body relaxed and I laughed. Then I grabbed my brother and hugged him hard. “You’re okay! You’re okay!”

“Ow!”

“Sorry. I’m just so happy!”

“Ow!” he cried again.

I wasn’t even touching him.

“What’s wrong?”

He stared at his hands. They were turning black. And cracking.

Fraternal twins Charlie and Lacey have never met their Uncle Jonathan, but that fact does not prevent the old recluse from leaving something behind for Charlie when he dies: the Darcy family midnight curse. In the hours between midnight and dawn, Charlie must sleep in water or die! The only way to end the curse is to climb up into the attic and apologize to the angry spirit that resides there. The problem is –– that’s what Uncle Jonathan was trying to do when he died, and Charlie is not brave enough to face the spirit on his own. He and his sister join forces with two ghosts and a psychic to confront the spirit and overcome the midnight curse once and for all.

    Lacey narrates their adventures in Uncle Jonathan’s haunted English manor with an authentic adolescent voice, tinged with both fear and appropriately juvenile humour. The Midnight Curse, a great book to read aloud in the classroom or at home, is sure to garner equal parts laughs and shivers.

Highly Recommended.

Laura Dunford is a student in the Master of Arts in Children’s Literature program at the University of British Columbia.

To comment on this title or this review, send mail to cm@umanitoba.ca.

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Published by The Manitoba Library Association ISSN 1201-9364

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