Summoned

May 1, 2014
For the love of Lovecraft. When teenage Lovecraft aficionado Sean stumbles across a guide to the classic author's magic in an old Rhode Island bookshop, he finds an email contact for a 17th-century wizard inside. Sean eventually makes the connection, resulting in a series of magical misfires in which he conjures the dark lord himself, creating a murderous, demonic Servitor that could drive him into madness. Pillsworth's first novel takes a while to hit its stride: The first 70-plus pages are steeped in heaps of Lovecraft-ian lore, which will test even the most patient teen readers. Characterizations and plot all take second place to page upon page of exhaustive Lovecraft history, tales and characters (readers don't get a sense of what Sean looks like until they're well into the story, for instance). She also builds an odd supporting cast: Sean's teen friend disappears from the text only to be replaced by his dad and a 25-year-old student, who take on more than adults usually do in the genre. All this said, the plot does take off once the spells have been cast and the damage is done, and readers-if they can weather the exposition-will find themselves plunged in a race against time as Sean works to uncover how to put an end to the demon he created. A stop-and-go tribute to a classic horror author. (Horror. 12-18)

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June 1, 2014

Gr 8 Up-At a rare books store, Sean and Eddy (Edna) come across a newspaper clipping from 1895 advertising for an apprentice sorcerer. The clipping seems authentic, but, oddly, the ad contains an email address. Sean, a devotee of the Lovecraftian Cthulhu mythos, contacts Reverend Redemption Orne (who claims to be the same Orne of witchcraft era, more than 300 years ago) and is given a test: summon a useful but harmless familiar. Inexperienced in magic, Sean botches the ceremony and summons instead a malevolent-and bloodthirsty-servitor which begins to take Sean over completely. This Harry Potter-esque fantasy of magic and apprentice wizards is darker and scarier than others in the genre. Unlike most YA fiction, Sean and Eddy require considerable adult help to solve the problems they've created. As the point of view shifts from adolescent to adult, so does the tone of the narration, making it difficult to discern who, exactly, is telling the story. Some mature language and occult subject matter place this squarely in the older YA category. The conclusion hints that a sequel is likely.-Katherine Koenig, The Ellis School, PA

Copyright 2014 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

June 1, 2014
Grades 8-11 Sean Wynham has always been interested in witchcraft and the occult and has a particular fondness for the stories of H. P. Lovecraft. While exploring a bookstore in Arkham, he finds a history of the town's witch panic and an advertisement from a seventeenth-century wizard seeking an apprentice via e-mail. Against the advice of his best friend, Sean makes contact with the advertiser, Reverend Redemption Orne. Intrigued, Sean agrees to perform a ceremony to summon a harmless familiar. Instead, he summons a servitor, a bloodthirsty demon poised to take over Sean's mind if a binding spell cannot be found. As his family and friends race to unlock the secret of the binding ceremony, Sean struggles to maintain control of his demonic familiar before it kills everyone in its path. Slow to start and filled with exposition, the novel nevertheless delivers a frightening story. Billed as the first in a series, this is an intricate homage to the Lovecraftian universe, though familiarity with the classic writer is not required for enjoyment.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)