Deep and Dark and Dangerous

I had the good fortune, as it were, to read this directly after another book I hated. Reading a good book soothed my frustration. I flew through this! -This- is an example of what Mary Downing Hahn is capable of, and I basked in it as a reader. The style is what I was used to of hers. Great imagery and details were once again present throughout. It won't be on my Halloween month reading list, but it was good. I'd recommend this for people who want ghostly kids in their stories, and especially budding sociopaths. Oh, I was worried I'd fall asleep and Sissy would be there if I turned over. Didn't happen, thankfully. The way the mystery was set up was good. I was interested every step of the way and was predicting many twists. I was wrong, show more but I was having fun. The ending was...maybe not a natural conclusion since Sissy was scary, but I was glad somehow still. Mostly scared and annoyed. A mark of good writing, when multiple emotions rise up in readers. show less

13-year old Ali finds an old photograph in the attic. The photo is of her mom and Aunt Dulcie when they were little girls. Obviously, at one time, there was a third girl in the photo, but her part of the picture has been torn off. The back of the photo just lists the girl as "T.'' Her mom says she doesn't remember the other girl, but Ali has a feeling there is more to the story.

Ali travels to Maine with her Aunt Dulcie and cousin Emma for the summer. They are staying at the lake-side cottage where the mysterious photo was taken. Emma and Ali meet another girl, Sissy, who seems angry at everyone and everything. Sissy tells the story of a little girl who drowned at the lake many years ago, and whose body was never found. As the summer show more progresses, Ali begins to discover clues to the mystery and soon finds out why Sissy is so angry.

This is the third middle grade book by Hahn that I have read for review. She is definitely very talented at writing creepy stories for kids! I enjoyed this book! The spooky mystery was fun and interesting to read. I read the story through in one sitting because I really wanted to know exactly what was going on! The story sucked me right in, and I read excitedly until the answers to the mystery were revealed.

There are some scary moments, but nothing was age inappropriate for middle grade students. I loved the cover art -- very pretty & creepy-cool!

My rating: 7/10
Ages 10 show less

Originally posted on my blog - www.quixoticmagpie.blogspot.com

I read this book to preview it for the students at my school. They love horror books and scary books, especially at this time of the year. They usually troop into the library, asking me for "the scariest book in the library". This book just looks creepy, doesn't it? This cover kind of freaks me out, that face! Eeek!

Poor Ali's mom has some issues. She is overly sensitive, cries easily, and can't seem to deal with situations like an adult. This would be so hard for a 13 year old to understand, and when Ali gets the chance to escape the situation, she jumps at it. Her Aunt Dulcie, so different from her mother, fun and spirited, invites Ali to spend the summer with her and her show more daughter Emma, at their cottage on the lake in Maine.Part of the deal is that Ali would be responsible for watching her little cousin, who is six years younger than her. Ali and Emma get along very well though, so Ali is unconcerned about this - it will actually be fun for her to hang out with Emma during the summer. Ali's mom however fights allowing Ali to go with her Aunt, saying its too dangerous, and that Ali would not enjoy it. Ali eventually is allowed to go, and when she leaves, her mom makes sure to tell her that she can come home at anytime.

Before the trip, Ali found a photo of her mother and aunt, from when they were children at the lake. She could see another arm, and the letter T on the back listed with the names. However, when she asked her mom who the other person was, she denied there was anyone else there. When Ali asked Dulcie, she too, denied the existence of anyone else..

When they get to the cottage, at first, all is well. Emma and Ali play nicely together, while Dulcie works. Then Ali and Emma meet Sissy, and it all goes downhill from here. Ali and Emma begin to argue more, Emma refuses to listen to Ali, is sassy, and basically turns into a brat. Little things start to happen, some small, some dangerous, just like Ali's mom warned the lake was. Dulcie unfairly blames everything on Ali, and I feel so sorry for her! The adults in this book leave something to be desired, but perhaps it is because this book is written for kids, from the point of view of a 13 year old. Ali is on a mission to discover who this girl is. Slowly, slowly, the spooky factor begins, and things fall into place, with Sissy and with the mystery. I read this while I was home alone (except for my animals), and a couple of times I had to look over my shoulder, I was feeling super creeped out. The atmosphere of this book is perfect - rainy, dark, gloomy, the feeling of being isolated and alone, an ominous mystery...if I had read this at a lake house on a foggy morning or a rainy afternoon, I would have definitely been scared. In my house on a hot day, I was just jumpy. I think that this is a perfect read for those kids between 3rd and 6th grade who like scary and spooky books! show less

Ali has a very protective mother and is facing a boring summer vacation since her best friend would be away all summer.

When her Aunt Dulcie arrives to ask Ali to spend two months with her and her daughter Emma up at the old family cottage at the lake, it looks like maybe the summer won't be so dull after all. The hard part is convincing Ali's mother to let her go. Her mother has a very dismal memory of the lake; rainy, cold, dreary and dangerous. With pressure from Dulcie, Emma and Ali's dad, permission is given.

When the three arrived, it is to a refurbished cottage and some of the dreary and dull weather, but for Ali it is still all good, until...

Sissy appears from nowhere and is very mysterious about her family and personal life. show more Sissy is also knowledgeable about the area and history. Appearing to be a bit lonely for children her age, she strikes up a friendship with Ali and Emma. Sissy also has a mean and spiteful side, which comes out when she tries to control Emma and turn her against Ali. Why is Sissy doing this? Where does Sissy live?

There is more to what things seem to be, and that more is eerie and evil feeling. Could it have to do with the old photo Ali found in some of her grandmother's books? A photo of Dulcie, Ali's mom and a third person whose image was torn off? A photo that greatly upset Ali's mom and put her in a tailspin?

Written with the gloomy backdrop of weather, with a mysterious family incident that no one wants to talk about, there are times that I felt a little uneasy reading this.

I think this is a good read for kids and can be read any time of year that they would enjoy a little spookiness in the pages of their read. show less

13 year old Ali has been invited by her aunt to spend the summer with her and her 5 year old daughter Emma at a cottage by a lake in Maine. Although her mother is reluctant to let her go, she eventually agrees. Ali keeps finding evidence of a little girl who was most likely her mom and aunt's friend and the only hint to her name is T from a torn photograph. But when she asks her mom and then her aunt about her. They both claim to have no memory of another girl. But Ali suspects they may not be telling the truth.
Ali's job is to babysit her younger cousin when your aunt is in her studio painting. A job Ali loves and she loves spending time with her cousin. A few days in they run into another little girl about 10 years old and her name show more is Sissy. Emma immediately wants to be Sissy's friend and starts acting just like her. Problem is Sissy acts like a brat and can be pretty mean at times. Ali tries to get more info out of Sissy about herself so she can find her parents and get Sissy to leave them be. But Sissy is secretive, sneaky, and possibly more than she appears to be. .
It was cute ghost story. Spooky but not super scary. It had a happy ending too. I can see older children and younger teens really enjoying this story. There really is nothing about this book that I think is bad or inappropriate for the age of children capable of reading it. And while I was certainly to old for this particular story, even I found it to be entertaining. This the second book I have read by Mary Downing Hahn, and think she does a great job the audience she target. Books sometimes makes me the Goosebumps, but not in a copycat sense. She has her own originality to her work show less

Just before summer begins, 12-year-old Ali finds an odd photograph in the attic. She knows the two children in it are her mother, Claire, and her aunt Dulcie. But who’s the third person, the one who’s been torn out of the picture? Ali figures she’ll find out while she’s vacationing in Maine with Dulcie and her fouryear- old daughter, Emma, in the house where Ali’s mother’s family used to spend summers. All hopes for relaxation are quashed shortly after their arrival, though, when the girls meet Sissy, a kid who’s mean and spiteful and a bad influence on Emma. Strangest of all, Sissy keeps talking about a girl named Teresa who drowned under mysterious circumstances back when Claire and Dulcie were kids, and whose body was show more never found. At first Ali thinks Sissy’s just trying to scare her with a ghost story, but soon she discovers the real reason why Sissy is so angry. . . . Mary Downing Hahn is at her chilling best in this new supernatural tale that’s certain to send shivers down her readers’ spines. show less

Reading this story reminded me of being in Grade 6 and devouring ghost story after ghost story in our Primary school Library! Ali finds a mysterious torn photograph of her mother and her sister and someone who's name starts with a T. Her.r anxious mother snatches the photo away and refuses to talk about who the "T" girl might be. Then Ali's aunt Dulcie invites her to the family's old cabin by a lake to babysit her 5 year old cousin Emma while she paints. Ali's mother is dead against it but eventually Ali's Dad overrules her and Ali is allowed to go. This is an interesting story in that it looks at the effect of a past traumatic event as shaping the lives of the two main adults Dulcie and Ali's mother and how they have coped ( or not show more coped) with something from their past that has left them deeply scarred.
When Ali and Emma arrive at the lake cabin, they soon meet a strange girl called Sissy who seems to bewitch Emma and change her personality. (This is where my old Grade 6 ghost story reading radar kicked in to say [Spoiler alert] Sissy is the ghost of Teresa who drowned with Dulcie and Ali's mum looking on.)
A few creepy bits set on dark and stormy nights ( when Dulcie's paintings are vandalised by someone painting a skull on each of them) but its the standard story of the ghost requiring closure ( find my bones) and being laid to rest. One for Middle school readers but suitable also for brave Grade 6 girls. :) show less