The Nest

By Kenneth Oppel, Jon Klassen (illustrator),

Book cover of The Nest

Book description

'The first time I saw them, I thought they were angels.' The baby is sick. Mom and Dad are sad. And all Steve has to do is say, "Yes" to fix everything. But yes is a powerful word. It is also a dangerous one. And once it is uttered, canā€¦

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Why read it?

4 authors picked The Nest as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

In this middle-grade horror novel, Steve is feeling lonely and worried. His newborn brother is sick in the hospital, and his parents are understandably stressed. Thereā€™s also a waspā€™s nest threatening their home, which becomes a bigger problem when the wasp queen visits him in his dreams. One night, the queen comes to Steve and offers to help ā€œfixā€ the baby.

I have read many, many horror books. I consider myself a connoisseur of the creepy. This book, intended for middle-grade children, remains one of the scariest books Iā€™ve read. Itā€™s filled with dread while also centering on family.

Iā€¦

Sometimes the scariest thing about monsters is how much we relate to them. Or how much we want to listen to them. Thatā€™s exactly whatā€™s being explored in The Nest by Kenneth Oppel.

Thereā€™s a surreal quality to this story, as the wasps outside the boy's window begin talking to him. We think their intentions are good at first, but the creepiness builds and builds until itā€™s almost overpowering. Until the main character doesnā€™t know if he can resist any longer.

This is a perfect story about finding the thing inside us thatā€™s stronger than any monster.

On my first read of Oppelā€™s spare masterpiece, I thought, I havenā€™t been this scared by a book in a long time. Itā€™s a middle-grade novel, but donā€™t let that stop you from picking it up. Steve is anxious about his baby brother, who was born with severe health problems. When an otherworldly creature offers to help, he assumes heā€™s communicating with an angel. The creature can fix Steveā€™s brotherā€”a normal baby certainly would be a huge relief for his whole family. But what does it mean to fix him? And what is ā€œnormal,ā€ anyway? This is a haunting, beautifullyā€¦

From Alisa's list on deals with devils.

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Funny Folk Tales for Children by Allison Galbraith,

These are the funniest folktales in the world. You will be amazed at the intelligent animals and LOL at the ridiculous scrapes the humans get themselves into in these short stories. Discover why dogs are our best friends, learn how to change a cow into a zombie, and meet aā€¦

Iā€™m not sure how to classify Oppelā€™s haunting and thoughtful novel, except to say that it straddles the line between fantasy and reality and is much more than just a psychological thriller (though it is that). It tells the story of Steve, a boy coping with anxiety, and his quest to save his sick infant brotherā€¦by making a deal with a wasp queen to replace his brother with a ā€œbetterā€ or ā€œperfectā€ one. Bizarre? Yes. Creepy? Seriously, especially in the last third of the book. But what struck me most about Oppelā€™s dreamy narrative was how much I connected withā€¦

From John's list on to spook middle-grade readers.

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