Adult author Paul Tremblay (The Beast You Are; The Cabin at the End of the World) makes his middle-grade debut with the eerie, uncanny Another.
Twelve-year-old Casey Wilson and his family are adjusting to life during the first years of the Covid-19 pandemic. Amid talk of "bubbles and pods," Casey started middle school. Two days a week he attends school in-person, where "everyone seemed to have grown bigger and older than he had." Anxiety from the pandemic and the changes to his schedule led to Casey developing occasional facial tics--which a bully filmed and set to music. While Casey has made it past the "Zoom Incident" (as his father calls it), Casey's closest friends have stopped inviting him to things, and he still has facial tics.
When the old-fashioned rotary phone his mother found at the antiques store begins to ring--despite the ringer being turned off--Casey's mom answers and agrees to a visitor. A man arrives with "a large, lumpy, light brown burlap bag" covered in dust, which opens to reveal a boy. Or rather something "shaped like a boy": it is "like a living mannequin," with skin the "pinkish-gray color of Silly Putty" and a face that has only the "outlines of facial features." The boy's name is Morel, the man says, and he's Casey's "new friend." Casey is sure it's all a joke, but his parents readily agree to take Morel and then wander off, telling "the boys to have fun but to not make too much noise." Days pass, and Casey's parents and Morel begin to change--as Morel becomes more defined and human-like, Casey's parents seem to fall into a haze. Soon, Casey's own mind starts getting fuzzy. The boy must figure out what the man wants and what Morel is before the distortion becomes reality.
Another is filled with an uneasy, growing dread. Casey's increasing alarm is contrasted with his parents' continued calm, and his lack of control heightens tension in a way that will certainly be accessible (and likely terrifying) to young readers. Black-and-white illustrations by Sam Wolfe Connelly build tone and add important texture to the plot. Tremblay honors middle-grade readers in his first work for children by speaking directly to their intelligence and telling a downright scary story. --Kyla Paterno, freelance reviewer
Shelf Talker: Twelve-year-old Casey is given a living mannequin as a friend in this uncanny and eerie middle-grade horror novel.