The House

October 1, 2015

Gr 9 Up-Delilah Blue would do anything for her crush, Gavin. She is sent to boarding school after beating up bullies who attacked him. Seven years later, she is back in Kansas and her obsession with Gavin hasn't changed. The two become inseparable. But a dark force threatens their relationship-the house that Gavin lives in. It provides everything that Gavin could possibly want and need in life. But the house doesn't want Delilah to be part of his life. When it gets mad, it becomes possessed and terrible things happen to the two teens. Gavin soon realizes how abnormal this is and begins to wonder about what happened to his mother, of whom he has only vague memories. What will happen when he graduates and leaves for college? Will the house let him go? This eerie work by the author team of Christina Hobbs and Lauren Billings is told in chapters that alternate between Delilah's and Gavin's accounts. With a swiftly moving plot and eerie elements that will surely raise goose bumps, this novel can be enjoyed by voracious horror fans and reluctant readers alike. VERDICT Give to teens who enjoy spine-tingling haunted house and ghost stories like The Old Willis Place by Mary Downing Hahn (Clarion, 2004) and The Summoning by Kelley Armstrong (HarperCollins, 2008).-Shannon Seglin, San Antonio Public Library

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