The Chupacabra

March 1, 2014

Gr 6-8-Facts and fiction combine in this series focused on one girl's interest in mysterious animals. Vanessa Day, who lives in Dublin, lost her mother several years ago to illness. She shares her scientist mother's interest in cryptids, animals whose existence has not yet been scientifically proven. In the first book, The Loch Ness Monster, Vanessa decides to read her mother's old case files about the legendary creature. She is thrilled to find out that her family will be taking a vacation to Scotland, near where there have been sightings of Nessie, but she is less than excited to find that they will be staying with her father's new girlfriend's family. After Vanessa takes a careless risk out on the water, her life is in danger, and her rescue takes a fantastical turn. Each chapter begins with a tidbit of information about the area or about sightings of the Loch Ness monster, corresponding with the action in the story. The Chupacabra is set up similarly. Unfortunately, at times facts slow down the action, and the short chapters can chop up the plot instead of advancing it. While the first novel focuses on Vanessa's family, the second takes her to Mexico with a friend. Changing the setting, while necessary for the focus on specific cryptids, diminishes readers' ability to connect with any character besides Vanessa. The mystery of the cryptids themselves, however, will be enough to keep many readers interested, and Vanessa's growth between the two books is evident.-Kelly Jo Lasher, Middle Township High School, Cape May Court House, NJ

Copyright 2014 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

March 1, 2014
An Irish teenager's Mexican vacation takes a turn for the terrifying. Having had an encounter with The Loch Ness Monster in the previous episode (2014), Vanessa is no skeptic when it comes to cricket. But barely has she stepped off the plane in Mexico before a string of strange visions, fainting spells and brushes with oddly behaving people and animals begins...leading to a seeming nightmare that leaves her covered in real blood. Is the supposedly "cursed" ranch she's staying on haunted by a blood-sucking chupacabra? Vanessa asks all the right questions to elicit both clues and cultural information painlessly. Flitcroft stirs in a quick romance and other subplots along with news reports from throughout Latin America of the legendary creature's depredations and a suggestion that it may not be a single type of beast but an evil that takes various forms. It's an undemanding but satisfyingly suspenseful tale that ultimately turns on a malign Nahua shape-shifter and an old murder. Scary and informative. (Horror. 10-12)

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July 1, 2014
Vanessa shares her late mother's interest in cryptozoology. In Loch Ness, aiming to continue her mom's research, Vanessa travels to Scotland and has a dangerous encounter with Nessie. Chupacabra finds Vanessa in Mexico, dealing with inexplicable animal deaths, strange visions, and dark secrets. Brief, informative contextual notes open each chapter. Character development is sacrificed for fast-paced action, but this series should interest reluctant readers curious about legends and cryptozoology.

(Copyright 2014 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)