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Reviewed by: Lisa Rice, Middle School Librarian Title: The Cursed Moon Author: Angela Cervantes
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Year: 2023 Good for Grades: 4-8 Genre/Type of Book: J horror, friendships, sibling relationships, Hispanic/Latino
Content Warnings, or things that other School Librarians should be aware of: some scary parts for younger readers Recommended for a school library: Yes Reason(s) for choosing the book: I love scary stories and love being able to recommend them to my middle schoolers who always want Stephen King books!
If you were tasked by the publisher with writing a short quote for the back cover of this book, what would it be:
"You hold the pen to your own story." -Mrs. Cortez, page 2
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Review:
Rafael "Rafa" Fuentes has failing grades, an attitude, needs to go to summer school, and has a mom that is getting out of prison soon. He writes and shares horror stories because he feels like his whole life is a horror story. Rafa and his little sister Brianna are warned by Ms. Martin that you should never tell scary stories while there is a blood moon in the sky. According to Abuela, who Rafa and Briana live with, if you tell a scary story during the blood moon, the restless spirit buried in the unmarked grave will be stirred awake and go after children. Of course, Rafa's friends convince him to tell a scary story anyway, and immediately afterwards there is a huge crash, and all the lights go out.
I thought they were some creepy and scary parts to this book that will appeal to students looking for a good horror book. The scary stories written in the journal are coming true! Creepy messages start appearing on Rafa's phone, "One, two, he's coming for you." Rafa tells a story about a jaguar and the front doors of the neighborhood homes get scratched with large, wide claw marks. The name of chapter 15 is "Beware the Furry Toe," and you will certainly want to be on the lookout for that! This book reminds me of the Scary Stories books or, one of my favorites, the Small Spaces books by Arden.
This book also has some good discussion points. For example, is the real reason that Rafa is scaring everyone because he is worried about his mom getting out of prison and coming home? Is writing a coping mechanism for Rafa? How does teacher Ms. Martin have a fancy Bentley and a driver (that could be a discussion point for the faculty discussion)? As Rafa deals with his mom in prison, we learn how he uses breathing techniques to manage stress. A great message in the book is accepting apologies on your terms, on your schedule, and it is your choice to forgive, or not. I like that more and more books seem to be incorporating SEL in them and have characters that use different strategies. It normalizes this for my middle schoolers.
I think fans of horror and spooky stories will really like this book and I will be recommending it to that group in my library. I think the cover will appeal to my middle schoolers and it is perfect for this time of year (October)! Any book that shows how writing can get us through tough times is a winner in my book!
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For more information about this book, see the publisher's website