Bram Stoker Young Adult Novel Award nominee Kalynn Bayron (You're Not Supposed to Die Tonight; Cinderella Is Dead) continues her excellent work in middle-grade with Olive Oakes and the Haunted Carousel, a thrilling, high-energy, Nancy Drew/Goosebumps-style series opener.
While 11-year-old Olive's cousin Eli calls her "nosey," Olive's father says she has "journalistic curiosity." The kind of curiosity that has her sticking her "nose into grown folks' business... a lot." So it's unsurprising when Olive overhears her parents having an intriguing conversation: Olive's real estate agent mother and historian father are going to spend a few days in Whispering Woods to check out a possibly haunted property. Olive and Eli are thrilled when they get to come along. But something isn't quite right about the town. The main street is a little too perfect, people's smiles are too big, and the traditional Finnegan Family Carnival has a sign reading, "All ages welcome, but please, keep your children close." When a creepy woman tells Olive and Eli to "avoid that carnival at all costs," the duo know without a doubt they have some carnival investigating to do.
The first-person point of view moves rapidly as the kids jump between suppositions, suspects, and downright "strange things" (such as supposed disappearances on the carnival's carousel). Olive maintains a detective notebook that works as an excellent tool to highlight important notes for readers while inviting them to do the same kind of investigating. Bayron creates in Olive and Eli an adorable, comfortable relationship where the children can equally razz and embolden each other. --Kharissa Kenner, school media specialist, Churchill School and Center