The Good Neighbors Book 1: Kin

Scholastic/Graphix

October 2008

128 pgs.  Hardcover

$16.99

Written by Holly Black & Illustrated by Ted Naifeh.

ISBN: 978-0-439-85562-4

Age Rating: 14+

ICv2 Stars: 4 (out of 5)

Things have turned upside down in Rue’s life, and she is doing her best to pretend everything is normal.  Her mother has disappeared and her father sulks at home, inconsolable.  She goes out with her friends, straining to hold it together, but everywhere they go she sees strange beings, where others see normal people.  Then her father is arrested on suspicion of murdering one of his students, and suddenly her mother’s disappearance is even more alarming.  Just when her world seems like it can’t get any more unstable, a man appears who tries to convince her that he is a long lost relative… from the faerie realm. 

Many characters and plot lines are thrown at Rue and the reader very quickly, making for a slightly rushed feeling, but laying a thick foundation for a series to be built upon.  Illustrated by Ted Naifeh, the book is dark and shadowy both in image and plot, and will appeal strongly to alienated teens who dream of magical answers to all their problems, or if not solutions, at least explanations.  Murder, drinking, and other adult elements make this best for high school and up, opening up a new direction for Scholastic’s Graphix division.

-Dawn Rutherford