HEX

In his acknowledgements at the end of the book, Heuvelt discusses how he rewrote his original story (published in the Netherlands in 2013) while it was being translated into English. He changed the setting to a small town in the Hudson Valley and gave the work a completely new ending. Although he provided his characters with American names, he allowed them to retain their "Dutchness," which makes for a charming, quirky, and humorous cast. They seem amazingly well-adjusted considering the restrictions that govern their lives. But when a group of Internet and social media savvy high school seniors confront the reality of being trapped forever in Black Spring by a 17th-century witch's curse, town law is no obstacle to their determination to change the status quo. Unfortunately, well-intentioned, testosterone-fueled teen bravado can quickly turn ugly. The teens pursue a series of activities that awaken the witch's wrath, but it is the townsfolk's dehumanizing descent into fear that turns Heuvelt's charming, don't-turn-out-the-lights ghost story into a bona fide tale of horror. Teens will relate to the characters' dilemma and appreciate how decisions made in the grip of either fear or love can have disastrous consequences.