#Isle Philippeaux

[jaygabler]

Is there such a thing as a "real life" phantom island? If there is, Isle Philippeaux qualifies. Until the 1820s, maps of Lake Superior placed a sizable island right in the middle of the lake. Mistaken double-mapping of Isle Royale is one plausible explanation for the error, but novelist Juliana Brandt found herself contemplating a supernatural explanation.

"What if this is an island that exists," Brandt said via Zoom from the Hastings, Minnesota, classroom where she teaches kindergarten, "and then it doesn't exist for some reason, but it'll come back — it's just this haunted place that pops in and out of existence?"

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[kingsbridgelibraryteens]

Middle School Monday: Monsters in the Mist by Juliana Brandt 

Glennon, his sister Lee, and their mother are spending the summer with Uncle Job at a lighthouse on Isle Philippeaux. Everything feels weird to Glennon here. He’s away from his home and his friends. He’s away from his father and his rules. And something about this island feels strange, but he can’t figure out what it is.

One stormy night, there’s a shipwreck down below the cliff, and the lighthouse keepers don’t seem concerned with helping the survivors. When Glennon meets those survivors, he begins to discover the island’s secrets. And the more he learns, the more he realizes that he and his family are in terrible danger. 

This is a great story because of its plot, its setting, and its chilling atmosphere. But it’s an amazing story because of its many layers. On one level, it’s about a family that’s trapped inside a horror story. At the same time, it’s a story about family members who love each other and who need to fully trust and support each other in order to grow. And it’s also a story about a boy learning to trust and value himself, and who must rely on his mind and his instincts if HE is going to grow. 

Give this book to older kids, teens, and even adults who are looking for scary stories and mystery stories with unusual settings. But also give it to any readers who would appreciate a book that seems to be one kind of story on the surface, but the more they read, the more it will open their minds and their hearts.

[hell-yeahfilm]

MONSTERS IN THE MIST

Writing in a distinctly metaphorical vein, Brandt tells a tale that is chilling on more than one level. Accepting an invitation she claims she received, 13-year-old Glennon McCue’s mother has brought him and his emotionally fragile sister, Leeunah, to stay with their Uncle Job, a lighthouse keeper, on remote Isle Philippeaux while their father is away for a fall semester fellowship. Readers will quickly cotton to the fact that all is not right—either on the island or in the McCue family—as, along with fogs, oddly localized gales, feelings of formless dread, frequent encounters with staring rats, and like atmospheric portents, both Glennon and Lee exhibit clear signs of PTSD. Brandt piles on further clues to what’s going on: On the one hand, there are sightings of gruesomely disfigured specters and the ominous news that the island is completely cut off from the mainland, and on the other, there are Glennon’s memories of years of his mercurial father’s patronizing put-downs and sudden rages. In the wildly stormy climax, Glennon confronts multiple terrors as, to prevent him escaping with his family, the malign island attempts to sabotage his newfound determination through psychological means. The main cast defaults to White.

from Kirkus Reviews https://ift.tt/DbxkfwS