Buffalo & Erie County Public Library Staff Review by Meg Cheman:
“My life might have been so different, had I not been known as the girl whose grandmother exploded.” Thus begins ten- year-old Pia Klovenbach’s story of the little German town of Bad Munstereifel.
An elderly neighbor regales Pia and fellow outcast StinkStefan with the gruesome yet intriguing local stories of ghosts and witches that, to the children, are more true and frightening than real life. With their heads full of folk tales, local legend and small town gossip, Pia and Stefan are drawn to the decades- old mystery of Bad Munstereifel’s missing children. When a new child goes missing, Pia and Stefan believe they will discover the truth in these folk tales.
Part horror story, part mystery and part coming of age novel, this debut by European author Helen Grant delivers a tale richly layered with background, plot and finely developed characters. The clever, subtle humor adds dimension and a welcome, surprising relief to the constant, underlying terror of the missing children. Pia’s childlike perspective and unusually perceptive take on an often baffling adult world propels the reader to a rather satisfying conclusion with an unexpected twist.
Pick up a book and READ! The Buffalo & Erie County Public
Library System offers this book and millions more resources for your
enjoyment, improvement and understanding of your community and our
world, thanks to your FREE Library card. It’s easy to sign up for a
Library card — check us out at any of the Library System’s 37
locations across Erie County and on the Web at www.buffalolib.org.
Buffalo & Erie County Public Library
1 Lafayette Square
Buffalo, NY 14203
716-858-8900