This was a creepy tale about a young girl struggling through middle school, who finds a doll's head in the river bed. Her younger sister decides to keep it and calls it Hush-A-Bye. As Lucy keeps to her rules as a new kid at school, dealing with bullies, an overworked single mom, and the anxiety that never seems to leave her, her sister keeps getting more and more attached to the doll. Strange things start happening and Lucy isn't sure if it's because of the doll, or just her inability to survive in the world. She eventually realizes that the doll is indeed the cause, but doesn't know if she is brave enough to face the horror inside. A quick but creepy read with enjoyable characters and a satisfying ending.

While seventh grader Lucy and her younger sister Antonia are exploring a river next to their trailer, they find a dirty old doll’s head. Antonia insists on bringing it home, despite Lucy warning her that they’ll get in trouble for bringing home garbage. That night, they hide the doll in the closet and Antonia starts talking to it. Then, Lucy thinks she hears the doll speak back. They name the doll’s head Hush-a-Bye after a song their mother sang to them as children. Antonia brings Hush-a-Bye to school, where she believes the doll is protecting her and doing things she tells it to do. However, Antonia begins acting differently and becomes obsessed with the doll. Lucy has to figure out how to stop Hush-a-Bye before she becomes too powerful.

This story is perfect for the spooky fall season. A doll’s head without a body can be creepy enough, but when it starts to behave on its own and control a child, it becomes even scarier. The doll was able to communicate with Antonia and Lucy, and also caused conflict between the sisters. It was such a disturbing toy.

There were some serious subjects in this story. Lucy and Antonia had an abusive father, who was mentioned but didn’t appear in the novel. Their mother moved them away from him, but she had to work constantly to make enough money for them to live. This meant that Lucy and Antonia had to look after themselves a lot, which led to them finding the possessed doll’s head. Though Lucy and Antonia had faced many tough challenges in their young lives, the ending was hopeful.

Hush-a-Bye is a creepy middle grade novel!

Thank you Viking Books for Young Readers for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This is a seriously spooky tween book. This doll will haunt the nightmares of most tweens in a good way. It is a bit of a slow burn at first but gets better. The main characters sister is Autistic & it is often a part of the story. Representation is pretty good.

Thanks to NetGalley & Penguin Group for the early copy in exchange for an honest review.

This follows an older sister who struggles with anxiety and stress at school while also taking care of her little sister. One day, her sister finds a creepy doll's head and takes it home. Strange things start happening, centered around the doll...

It's an OK book, serves its purpose as a scary chapter book, but I feel like the main character's backstory was emphasized way more than the actual horror aspect of the novel. Frankly, I'm more into the horror than the tragic backstory of the main character... I just kept getting confused about the protagonist's bizarre home situation as well as the cartoonish bullying going on at her school. I didn't really see how it was relevant to the rest of the book, but then again, I am not the intended age range.

I think it works well, I'll definitely be getting it for the collection because horror books are IN again with kids, apparently.