Watch Hollow (Watch Hollow #1)

Gr 4-7--Ever since their mother died of cancer two years earlier, the Tinker kids can't seem to catch a break. Lucy, the youngest, is always in trouble, choosing to throw punches rather than roll with them. Her older brother, Oliver, is forced to be the grown-up in the family and deal with the frustrating fluctuations in voice and complexion that come with puberty. To top it all off, the family business, Tinker's Clock Shop, is on the verge of bankruptcy. Nothing seems to go right. So when help comes in the form of Mr. Quigley and his jingling pouch of gold coins, everyone is excited but wary. All the Tinkers have to do to earn their salvation is fix the gigantic cuckoo clock that is the source of power for Blackford House, a once-grand home tucked deep in the mysterious woods of Watch Hollow. But, of course, it isn't as easy as all that. The house and the woods have terrible secrets, and Lucy and Oliver, along with a group of magical, wooden clock animals, must ultimately confront the monster in the woods that seeks to destroy Blackford House and the Tinkers along with it. All the characters are well defined, from Lucy's rebellious nature to Oliver's frustrating struggle with becoming a man both literally and figuratively; all the characters come across as real and three-dimensional. The sense of loss that permeates the family is balanced nicely with the feeling of hope and purpose that comes along with Mr. Quigley's proposal. There is magic, there is good and evil, and there is love all woven into a suspenseful and entertaining mystery. This book will find its way into the hands of tweens who couldn't stop reading Jonathan Auxier's The Night Gardener or the "Grimm" series by Adam Gidwitz. VERDICT A well-crafted story that should be a hit with readers who enjoy a a good scare.--Erik Knapp, Davis Library, Plano, TX

Eleven-year-old Lucy Tinker; her pubescent brother, Oliver; and their clocksmith father, Charles Tinker, are down on their luck--Lucy and Oliver's mother has died, and the family's antiques business is failing. When Mr. Quigley, an enigmatic stranger, smoothly offers Mr. Tinker a pile of gold coins to repair the clock at his Rhode Island residence, called Blackford House, things seem to be looking up. The dilapidated mansion is deep in the woods, a dramatic change from their city life, and the family is invited to live there temporarily. When a little wooden dog and other animal statues come to life after midnight and insist that Lucy is now the caretaker of the house, she soon discovers that "There are places in this world where magic is real." The animals have been hungry and frozen each day since the evil monster Garr appeared, and the house's giant cuckoo clock has stopped working. To protect the world and their new friends, Lucy and Oliver find themselves fighting alongside the animals in an inspiring battle against the Garr and enchanted woods that feed on fear. While the villain's motivation has been seen before, Funaro (Alistair Grim's Odditorium) writes action-packed chapters that create suspense en route to a cliffhanger ending, which suggests that a scary sequel may be on the way. Final art not seen by PW. Ages 8-12. (Feb.)