Bound To Stay Bound

Booklist - 05/15/2020 *Starred Review* In the wake of his Newbery Honor Book Scary Stories for Young Foxes (2019), Heidicker adopts an appropriate pseudonym for this equally chilling series opener. Desperate for the money needed to keep his visionary brother Graham safe from ominous experiments in the local asylum, orphan Wally Cooper joins forces with Arthur Benton—another young rascal whose main ambition is to be like Garnett Lacroix, the flamboyant gentleman thief of a cherished series of adventure novels. But their attempted burglary of a supposedly empty mansion pitches them into the midst of a frantic struggle to preserve the fragile Veil that separates the residents of Real Kingsport from the Fae realm of embodied nightmares and imaginings. Unfortunately, those imaginings are already leaking through with rapidly escalating effects: an eerie doll whose touch turns people to porcelain gives way to giant tentacled monsters. Along with spot art, Earley portrays some of these creatures, along with select characters, in a sparse array of expertly modeled portraits. Arthur’s climactic realization that the monsters are all drawn from the exploits of his literary hero supplies the key to suppressing this outbreak, but hints of a broader, ongoing conflict remain for sequels. Wally’s friend Breeth, an intrepid, pun-loving child ghost who can occupy any organic item, is just one scene-stealer in the unusually colorful supporting cast. - Copyright 2020 Booklist.