Abrams books | Page 3 of 12

The Museum of Lost Teeth, far from being pulled-it’s a great-goodnight book

“I have no idea why you lost your tooth or what the tooth fairy does with them”, that’s what I told a kindergarten student earlier this month. They were over the moon with curiosity as to how the tooth disappeared from underneath their pillow last night. And while they were thankful for the money that it had been displaced with, their wonderment as to where the tooth could’ve gone took up as much real estate in their mind as their sudden financial gain. The Museum of Lost Teeth is an illustrated book by Elyssa Friedland with illustrations by Gladys Jose that examines one theory as to how baby mouth bones disappear from the cool side of the pillow.

The Museum of Lost Teeth is a great-goodnight book that takes the fear away from losing your first tooth and turns it into an adventure for all.

It’s funny, clever and takes the scares out of that first lost tooth

Let The Monster Out, succeeds were it not for those muddling meddling kids

Allegory, teen-angst, outsiders, corporate shenanigans, and overcoming your fears meet in mglit, what’ll ya have? If you’ve ever been to The Varsity in Atlanta, which is a fabulous place to grab a hot dog, they’ll greet you that way. Let The Monster Out is mglit that wants to be in the Stranger Things, but with-more-heart club, and almost gets there. It has high aspirations and does offer plenty of thrills along the way, but left us feeling empty as though the book was playing favorites, let us explain.

Let The Monster Out has moments of mglit through a techno thriller lens, but jams in feelings that moot the scares and slows the pace.

Evil Corporation and kids overcoming stuff 101

Unmasked gets to the big bad quickly and sustains the teen tension

I love it when a book series gets better with a subsequent release. Unmasked is the third book in the Fright Watch series by Lorien Lawrence and manages to do that. We also read The Collectors, which was the second book in the series and while it was enjoyable, it didn’t have as much of an age-appropriate scare that some readers want. Unmasked is about a middle school girl, Marion, who uses the artistic creation of monsters as therapy. Her latest creation is a sea monster that she calls Winston. It’s all happening as the Super Blue Blood Moon and the school dance are around the corner, and Marion has developed a crush on a boy. Things can get complicated when you factor in a super-realistic mask that even gives its creator the creeps.

Unmasked is the third book in the Fright Watch series. It improves upon its predecessor and brings the bad on quicker, whilst keeping the teen feels.

MGLIT, age-OK scares line up at the first page

The Most Haunted House in America is illustrated ghostly mayhem

A surprise in your illustrated books is OK. You comic book fans know what I’m talking about. The cover doesn’t exactly match the content inside or has text that infers something that might be direr. The Most Haunted House in America is an illustrated book that follows that comic book playbook to the letter. This is a beautifully illustrated book with art that drags you in with the skeleton hands that you’ll quickly see once you open it.

The Most Haunted House in America, an illustrated book on the most famous house in America and the residents that never left.

Come for the lead, stay for art that sucks you in

Windswept is a fairy tale that those non-fairy tale reading mglit fans will dig

An anthology doesn’t always have to be allegorical. Windswept is a fantasy book that combines elements of those two categories into something that also crosses over in fables and fairy tales. To add to the trippy attitude of the book it has the all-seeing eye that’s firmly placed below a tree. And this is before you know anything about the plot, which is about children being literally swept away by the winds, never to be seen again.

Windswept is a book that blends little-known Scandinavian elements to create age-appropriate dread for the fairy tale reluctant set.

Not all fairies have wands or sing songs

Dear Wild Child adds up to more than meets the artsy eye

The cover of Dear Wild Child immediately catches your attention. It’s the silhouette of a young girl whose long hair is whishing in the wind. Inside her head’s outline are the shapes of a forest in the grip of autumn’s peak with cabin shapes that are inlaid where her eyes, nose, and mouth should be. It’s a nature person’s Picasso, with just a hint of mystery-and that’s just the cover. Once you open Dear Wild Child and start reading it you’ll find a story about nature, family, and loss. This illustrated book also has a curve that readers aren’t expecting.

Dear Wild Child is an illustrated book with gorgeous art that sublimely and optimistically teaches about loss and overcoming it.

Coping, family and destruction, but guised in a happy package

Witch For Hire, pointy-hat good times that smells like teen spirit

Aspects of middle and high school represent the worst parts of agar. Agar is the gunk that’s collected in a petri dish. The school equivalent of agar gone bad are typically the entitled, popular, pretty without a conscious folk, jocks, bullies or those kids that have a chip on their shoulder for no meaningful reason. They’re the great heels in popular movies and will resonate with all readers in Witch For Hire. Witch For Hire is a graphic novel by Ted Naifeh that is 100% current, with real-world peer pressure and social strife that teens will encounter. It also adds a fabulous sense of dread, witches, and monsters that are just as real as the weight that popularity and social media add to today’s teens.

Witch For Hire is a graphic novel with great heels, a timely teen plot and an unlikely hero you can really hang your witch hat on.

Teen reading fun with enough witch magic to make it sizzle

The Man Who Leapt Through Film, an illustrated look at Mamoru Hosoda and his films.

You don’t need to enjoy anime to appreciate its art or entertainment value. For example, I’ve only seen a dozen or so anime films, but have enjoyed each one of them for different reasons. Those film fans who don’t know anime at all still enjoy the work of Mamoru Hosoda. The Man Who Leapt Through Film is a coffee table-style book for movie fans, anime people, Japanohpiles, as well as animation fans who are curious about the creative process. It’s also a clever head nod to one of Hosoda’s most popular films, The Girl Who Leapt Through Time.