Fatal Glitch: Camp Zero, about an 11-year-old gamer who enters a Black Mirror-esque nightmare of her own making, is the first installment in a compelling middle-grade technological horror series by two-time Newbery Medalist Erin Entrada Kelly (Hello Universe; The First State of Being) and Stonewall and Printz Honor winner Eliot Schrefer (The Darkness Outside Us; Queer Ducks (and Other Animals)).
Sofia Mendoza spends most of her time on her tablet, building worlds and slaying monsters in her favorite game, Sandbox. After Sofia's gymnast sister, Isabella, trips over Sofia's (purposefully?) outstretched foot and fractures her kneecap, Sofia's dad, thinking Sofia needs some "perspective," drops the girl off at Forestjaw, a remote summer camp. Sofia is aghast when the menacing camp head, Monarch, demands Sofia hand over her electronics. The camp's few shadowy cabins don't endear Sofia to Forestjaw, but her fear is replaced by elation when it's revealed that the camp is "sponsored" by Sandbox, and one of the campers will leave with one million credits to use in the game. Sofia is determined to be that camper--but first, she'll have to figure out how to play on the camp's terms.
Camp Zero mirrors the darkly comic morality tales of R.L. Stine's iconic Goosebumps series, while likely keeping readers' mortal terror at a lower simmer. Kelly and Schrefer replicate something like the creepily atmospheric style of The Twilight Zone, bolstered by Jeannette Arroyo's black-and-white full-page and spot illustrations of looming trees and silhouetted figures. At just under 150 pages, this is a quick-paced, accessible read for the horror curious. --Mariel Fechik Deslaurier, librarian, freelance writer, music reviewer