I was very excited for this book given how much I have enjoyed the author's other works and how much I have always loved Halloween. The atmosphere was good and the story itself wasn't bad - definitely the kind of adventure that would grab the attention and imagination of Halloween-loving middle grade readers. However, like many other reviews have pointed out, something about the tone and pacing of the narration felt off somehow. Esther didn't always read like a true 13 year old, and at times the book felt like it was dragging when it should have felt adventurous. Overall not a bad read, especially if you're a fan of spooky things, but not quite as good as I was hoping and expecting.

This title was truly difficult to get through. The voice of the protagonist, a 13 year old girl, didn't translate as such at all. Her inner dialogue was much too mature and her interactions with other characters was completely dulled. The subject matter clashed with the age of the protagonist in terms of maturity as well. It felt as if I was reading a child's picture book with a monotone narrator waxing about the injustices against her religion and how people just didn't "get: her. Completely out of place, out of tone, and just not syncing up on any level. I'm genuinely surprised to have such a negative report for this author, consider his other popular works.

Esther is a 13 year old girl who loves Halloween. She makes 3 costumes every year: one for school, one for trick-or-treating, and one as back up. This year, her parents decide that she is too old for trick-or-treating and tell her she can't go. So she lies to her parents and comes up with a plan that will allow her to trick-or-treat with her best friend. Little does she know, the Queen of "Halloween Dream", is taking over her neighborhood, turning it into a Halloween that will never end using the power of the full Halloween moon. Filled with creepy ice cream trucks, and zombie like tiny trick-or-treaters, you won't be able to put this book down. A perfect scary story for Halloween.

This is a pleasant enough middle grade story, but I didn't find it quite as well executed as Fink's adult novels. My biggest problem, I think, is that Esther feels less like a 13-year-old and more like an author mouthpiece. But overall, this is likely an enjoyable, if not overly memorable, read for Halloween-loving kids.

Oh man this was so much fun. I really love Halloween and this was a really good read. So Esther Gold just turned 13 and she loves everything about Halloween but her parents think she is too old now to trick or treat and tell her that she can’t go out that last year was her final year but she objects to that. So she devises a plan with her best friend Agustin who hates Halloween that she will go with him to the movies when in actuality they will go trick or treating. It works and as they head out they notice that fewer and fewer houses are answering the door and it’s really early still and there are hardly any kids out trick or treating. They find everyone asleep and her little sister is missing so with the help of her Nemesis Sasha Min who brother is missing as well and there next door neighbor who is the only adult not asleep they try to figure out what is going on. This was a really interesting concept and I loved that they ended up in the realm of Halloween because the Queen of Halloween was ticked off about how short her day was and wanted to make a section of earth Halloween forever. The ending was really good and it was all about how change is good and not something to be scared of.

Thanks to Harper Collins Children’s Books and Netgalley for the complimentary copy of this book in e-book form. All opinions in this review are my own.

This book is a love letter for anyone who wishes the spirt of Halloween would last all year long. However, the story also unfolds with a coming-of-age twist rooted in a Peter Pan type of desire to never, ever grow up. Esther Gold is a devotee of all things Halloween, much to her parents chagrin. As Esther is now thirteen-years-old they, (and, let's face it, others at school), think its time that Esther leaves the dressing up and trick-or-treating behind. But when a mysterious ice cream truck rolls into town, and creepy tricker-or-treaters start prowling the streets before. night has even fallen, Esther starts to have a sixth sense that something unnatural has been unleashed in her town. Soon, she realizes how right she is: The Queen of Halloween has arrived, and her life-sucking magic causes all adults to fall asleep, and everyone else to be trapped in a loop of Halloween-on-replay. Esther joins forces with her BFF, her school nemesis and, (shockingly), the next door neighbor who typically spoils Halloween with his toothpaste and dental floss to fight back. But Esther will never be able to defeat anyone until she embraces the truth that, alas, everyone must grow up, and change is to be accepted, not feared.

Liked but did not love this. It started off very strong, but lagged a little for me once all the pieces were laid out. I did enjoy the ending, though, and can imagine this would make an excellent read-loud for 5th grade students through October. Shades of Halloween Tree + Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury + some lite Stephen King. Will purchase when published for kids that like Halloween titles.

I really wanted to love this book. I loved the premise and the atmosphere; I didn't even mind the somewhat odd narration although it did make it seem that the character was older than middle grade. I kept putting down the book and not necessarily wanting to pick it up. It felt like a slow read and shouldn't have.

I love Halloween. I love middle-grade books. I really wanted to love this book... but I didn't. I found it a slog to get through and few of the characters caught me and made me care. The parents are simply jerks, the tropes too common, and there wasn't much to make this Halloween book stand out among the others I have read.

Thank you NetGalley and Quill Tree Books for the opportunity to read an advance reading copy.

Middle grade kids will enjoy this story! It's a fun, quick read. As for the parents telling their daughter she's too old to "trick or treat" I regularly give treats to teens and young parents out with their littles! Hey, why not! It's the spirit of the season to me! I know other adults who offer dad's out with their kiddos a beer! My then 21 year old daughter escorted a young friend around the neighborhood (years ago) and had quite a bit of fun- my daughter was under 5' tall, the 11 year old was 5'5''. Guess who kept getting called out as too old to be trick or treating?! Adults always had a good laugh about the "trick" and gave my daughter and her little friend MORE candy for the laugh! It's just right for a October read! Not Stephen King scary, but fun scary!

I received this book for an honest review from that netgalley #netgalley

This was a cute spooky Young Adult Book I enjoyed the characters in the setting immensely. Although it was a short read I think it will stick with me for a while thank you.

Thanks to NetGalley & HarperCollins Children's Books for the advance copy in exchange for an honest review. DNF at 20%, sadly.

Ester loves Halloween...until one Halloween, weird and unusual things are happening in her town.

Yeah, I love Halloween too but I couldn't get past the writing style. Ester was supposed to be a 13-year-old but sounded like a 50-year-old. Her dialogue and thoughts weren't really akin to a kid and I found it a bit unrealistic. She also felt robotic at times, just repeating what the author says with no...flair behind it, I guess?

I also thought it was stupid the parents were like "No, you're not allowed to go Trick-or-Treating this year because you're an adult at 13." What kinda dumb parents say that stuff? She has a younger sister (3 years old) she could've taken trick-or-treating, I took my younger cousins trick-or-treating even as a teen because you do it to encourage their fun. Very nitpicky and I'm sorry about that but these parents were ridiculous!

I didn't get far enough to get to the actual spooky/supernatural parts, unfortunately so I have no commentary on that.

This is a great book to add to your classroom library! Definitely a fun read to read to your students during Halloween time. Check it out!!

This was such a delightful read. As a ghoul who has a love for Halloween, this book is a great way to push my love of the holiday on my students. The story moves along quickly and doesn’t drag. I do think that there could have been a few more “creepy” moments but I still enjoyed the story.

Reading this book in March, I didn’t think the atmosphere of Halloween would resonate as much as it would have if I read it in October. However, I was completely and utterly wrong. This book exudes Halloween and brought me right back to October. I might even read it to my students when it gets closer to Halloween because I enjoyed the story that much and feel like kids will as well.

Side note: The cover is BREATHTAKING. I would frame this cover and display it in my house.

A great MG mystery with some wonderful, unexpected messages! Very good!

Thank you NetGalley and HarperCollins Children's Books for the digitial ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This is a fun, wonderful book. I was surprised to discover that this book is so much more than a Halloween mystery. It had a great message about change and growing up which makes it perfect for middle schoolers who are at that awkward age between wanting to grow up and wishing they could stay a kid. It also addressed the issue of kids being bullied because of their race and religion.

There were parts of this story that were very cleverly written. I found it rather slow in the beginning, but it picked up. There were a parts that made me laugh. It was a very sweet story but at the same time, an adventure and maybe a bit “little kid type scary”, but not really. It reminded me of those cute Halloween Town movies my kids used to love to watch when they were young.

I love all of the complex, well written characters, especially Mr. Gabler, (who wasn’t always a dentist, you know! LOL) I loved how much Agustín cared for and understood his mom. I liked the relationship between the siblings. It was a good book and I recommend it to middle schoolers, especially those who love Halloween, or who are just having trouble with the notion of growing up.

Thank you Net Galley and HarperCollins Children’s BooksQuill Tree Books for the digital ARC in exchange for my honest review.

#NetGalley #TheHalloweenMoon

Esther loves Halloween, but how would she handle if everyday was Halloween? This was a good read. I don't do spooky well, and this had an air of spook to it. I think kids will enjoy this read too.

Strange things start happening around town on Halloween night. Why is everyone asleep but Esther, Agustín, Mr. Gabler, and Sasha? Who are the brothers with weird ice cream trucks? Who is the Queen of Halloween? Why has time seemed to stop? If you love a good mystery pick up this book and figure out the answers to all these questions.

This book was so unique, I loved the main character. I understood what she was going through when she said she was afraid of growing up. When I was 13 I felt the same way. Mr. Gabler was pretty funny. “Lay it on us, Columbo,” Mr. Gabler said. Esther, Agustín, and Sasha stared at him blankly. “Columbo?” he said. “Guy on TV? Detective? No? God, I’m old.” He glumly took a bite of pancake.”

This book was very clean, perfect for tweens and even teens. I'd say this book was rated PG, there was a bit of violence in the book. A guy was throwing apples with little knives in them at the main character and her friends.

Thank you Netgalley and HarperCollins Publishing for giving me a copy of this book for an honest review.

I received a copy from HarperCollins Children's Books through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Esther Gold’s favorite holiday is Halloween. She lives for it and spends a lot of her free time planning and perfecting the perfect Halloween costume every year. When Esther’s parents tell her that she’s too old to go trick-or-treating, she is devastated. Of course, Esther wouldn’t be Esther without Halloween, so she plans to go trick-or-treating one last time. Armed with her secret costume and her best friend who hates the holiday, they sneak out together only to discover that the entire neighborhood has been put into a supernatural sleep.

I picked up this book because it sounded right up my alley since Halloween is my favorite holiday. We follow Esther Gold as she prepares to sneakily go trick-or-treating one last time. Unfortunately for her, things don’t go as planned because her neighborhood is under a sleeping spell. The only people awake are Esther, her best friend, her longtime school bully, and her dentist neighbor. Together, they try to take on the Queen of Halloween and rescue the neighborhood from sleeping their way through the rest of their lives.

One of the things that I liked about this book is that the characters are surprisingly complex. Esther is worried about growing up and holding onto trick-or-treating as the last piece of being a kid as enters her teenage years. Her best friend, Agustín, is battling with some abandonment issues as his mom spends long hours working with very little time to spend with him. Sasha, Esther’s bully, gets bullied herself and has been taking it out on Esther for years. Mr. Gabler is a former thief turned dentist trying to do good.

I thought the supernatural aspect of it was interesting as well. We’ve got the Queen of Halloween using a rare orange moon to pause time and turn an innocent neighborhood into Halloween forever. There are her cronies driving around town and the kids she collects and their fate with her. Plus, there’s the black cats that are the Queen of Halloween’s sworn enemies. I wish there was more information on the supernatural aspects of the story, but I’m not surprised that this isn’t something that’s further explored since it’s a book written for middle schoolers.

All in all, I enjoyed this story and I think I would’ve enjoyed it a lot if this is something that was published when I was in middle school myself.

Why is this whole book in passive voice? Who edited this thing? Like seriously, who edited it? I had to stop reading because the text of the book kept taking me out of the story, which is a shame.