Mothman's Curse

Gr 4–6—Josie Fletcher and her brothers, Fox and Mason, have grown up helping out at their family's auction house. They know which trinkets are actually worth money and which ones are straight-up junk. The siblings aren't allowed to buy stuff once it's on the auction floor, but sometimes they borrow objects to play with and return them before the auction. That's what happens with Mr. Goodrich's old Polaroid camera. Josie snaps a picture, and when it prints out, there is a strange man in the shot: a man who wasn't there when she took the picture. The haunted camera is just the beginning of an adventure that will take the Fletchers into the history of local disasters and lead to a confrontation with the red-eyed Mothman. The fantasy elements (which are based on local legends) and the realistic portions of the plot are strongly crafted, resulting in a balanced blend of genre and literary elements. Hayes's characters are appealing but flawed, and their relationships will ring true for middle grade readers. Over time, the Fletcher children begin to come to terms with their mother's death by learning that they can always rely on one another.