I thought that this was a great spooky book that didn't have a lot of horror in it. I thought that it was well-thought out by the author and thought provoking for children reading this book. The cover is very engaging and I thoroughly enjoyed this book.

The other day, I was looking at my @netgalley shelf, and I realized I never posted a full review of #TheCurseOfSpectacleKey by @chantelacevedo_author! I enjoyed this book tremendously, in part because it did things I didn't expect, and it ended up showing how it's really important to keep history honest--or later generations end up paying the consequences. I think that's a lesson that ought to be uncontroversial (and, sadly, it seems to be controversial to some audiences), so I love that she plays with it so well, and so sympathetically, here.

So what's the story about? The story opens with Frank Fernandez looking forward to finally spending more than one year in the place where his family has moved to, only to be told they're moving again. This time, it's to their forever home, where they will be closer to Frank's grandfather. But when they arrive at the lighthouse they're meant to make their home, everything seems to go wrong. Frank's more into science that the supernatural, but even he starts to wonder if the place is cursed...or worse, haunted. But when he starts to make some ghostly contact, he realizes it might be on him to save not only his house, but the whole island.

There are some fantastic side character in this, but the star really is Frank, a very sympathetic middle grade kid who is willing to do what it takes to make a difference, even when the going gets scary. And while for a while, I was worried about whether things would end in a way that was too bittersweet, I think Chantel Acevedo really did a fantastic job making sure the finale felt like a triumph. If you enjoy middle grade novels (or have a middle grade reader in your life), this is an excellent one to pick up!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for granting me free access to the advanced copy of this book.

I received this book for free from netgalley for an honest review.

Really well thought-out book with amazing characters and excellent setting.

Thank you, NetGalley, for an e-ARC of The Curse on Spectacle Key by Chantel Acevedo.
I'm always on the lookout for a good middle-grade ghost story, but this one didn't work for me. The plot seemed too contrived, and the interaction between Frank and his parents didn't seem realistic. Our library will purchase the book, and I will recommend to the "right" reader, but it wasn't one I will be pushing.

From the end of summer through October 31, I read as many “scary” middle grade titles as possible. In the fall of 2022, THE CURSE OF SPECTACLE KEY was in that group. Frank's parents renovate and restore historic buildings, which means Frank is constantly in the position of being the outsider in new schools and towns. The newest project takes the family to a historic lighthouse in the Florida keys. The major work the long abandoned building requires is blamed for the various malfunctions. However, Frank befriends a strange girl dressed in old fashioned clothes, and finds that the decrepit orphanage close to the water may hold the secrets which have caused the lighthouse to be haunted. Add a dose of history and mystery, and this title becomes perfect for the reader looking for a scary ghost story, without lot of horror.
Thank you to Netgalley and Balzer+Bray, and imprint of HarperCollins Children's Books.

A pleasantly spooky (but not too spooky!) tale for mystery readers who love to get lost in an interesting setting.

Did I expect to cry at the end of a middle grade mystery? I did not. But did Chanetl Acevedo make me cry? Bingo.

Frank moves to the Florida Keys with his parents, who have been moving around his entire life, never staying in one place long enough for Frankie to make friends. They promise him it's the last move: they're fixing up an old lighthouse, his maternal grandfather lives nearby, and his mom grew up in the area. Unfortunately, there seems to be a curse on the island of Spectacle Key that Frankie's parents have purchased, the first sign of which is a girl who doesn't remember who she is and seems to be invisible to everyone but Frankie. They embark on a search to discover the truth of Spectacle Key and of the girl.

This is a really sweet, lovely story - with a bit of thrills and chills along the way - about loneliness and friendship and family and ancestry. It's about the importance of remembering history. Even when it hurts. Even when it's uncomfortable. Even when it makes us look bad.

cw: child death, neglect

The Curse on Spectacle Key is an engaging and very well written ghost story chapter book for middle grades readers by Chantel Acevedo. Released 6th Sept 2022 by Harper Collins on their Children's imprint, it's 256 pages and is available in hardcover, audio, and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links and references throughout. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats lately.

This book engaged me from quite literally the first page. The last day of fifth grade, and Frank's looking forward to the summer for the first time. His family's business, renovating and flipping unusual houses generally meant that he'd be moving yet again to start the next school year in yet another town, far away. The characters are written so sympathetically and realistically that I was fully engaged with Frank from the first chapter.

This is also a well told story with a main character who is genuine, kind, honest, and realistically rendered. He has a warm and loving family and a great relationship with his grandfather. He's close with his parents as well and he's Cuban American (his dad's from Cuba). There's a fair bit of Spanish scattered throughout. Words and phrases are self explanatory or defined in context in the text. Representation is important and this is a positive and warm portrayal.

It *is* a ghost story, but the supernatural bits aren't overly scary, in fact they're quite charming, and shouldn't be problematic for kids in the target audience group (8-12ish).

Four and a half stars. This would be a good choice for public and school library acquisition, home reading, and gift giving. Although the target age for readers is stated as 8-12 years, it's an enjoyable read for all ages. The denouement especially has a cool Scooby Doo climax and denouement which I loved.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

Haunting and a good book that I liked and I really enjoyed the characters. Hoping to see more from this author and liked the voice too. Perfect for the halloween season.

The Curse on Spectacle Key was a creepy mystery book about a boy named Frank who finds out that his family is moving yet again. Frank is upset because he believed that they were going to stay at their current home for a while, and he had made a lot of fun plans for his summer. Ultimately, his family moves into a lighthouse on a small key in Florida.

The lighthouse is in shambles, his parents are arguing a lot, and Frank is not enjoying his new home. One day, Frank decides to try an experiment in an abandoned building, and the experiment does not go well. Frank finds a mysterious message and finds a girl in the abandoned building. No one can see her except for Frank and his dog. The little girl cannot remember her name, where she came from, or anything else about her life.

So Frank and the little girl decide to try to find out who she is.

Overall, this was an enjoyable read. I did think that the ending was a little rushed and had loose ends. However, the story was still fun and I'd recommend this book.

REVIEW: This book was such a fun read! Though this is written for middle readers, it kept me engaged and entertained. I loved the paranormal aspect (A lighthouse on an island has ghosts, a curse, and a dark history), and as someone who is trying to learn Spanish, I really enjoyed the Spanish phrases woven in throughout the book (I loved translating the words I didn’t know).

As a middle school science teacher, I think this would be a fabulous book to put on my shelf. A touch of spooky, some humor, a kid who LOVES SCIENCE, and a storyline that many of my students might identify with (multilingual homes, being the new kid, no friends, family dynamic issues, etc). I loved seeing the main character attack the problem with a science mindset, and saw it through to the end— and a happy end at that! An avid and quick middle reader could easily read this in a day, but the short chapters make it easy to chunk and read in multiple sessions.

RATING: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

(Rating will also be shared on Instagram @slowerlowerliving soon)

'The Curse on Spectacle Key,' by Chantel Acevedo has a great title that evokes a Hardy Boys style mystery. In fact we get ghosts and a light house so we are not far off. It is a middle grade horror/ paranormal that hits the right notes for age appropriateness and creep factor.

The Curse on Spectacle Key is a spooky mystery set on a small key in Florida. Kids who enjoy mysteries and slightly spooky stories (nothing too scary in this book) will enjoy reading this book and trying to solve the mysteries.

Frank is excited because it's the last day of school, and for the first time in his life, he's not moving this summer. His parents renovate unique structures and turn them into homes, and they've got a longer project that will let him stay another year in Auburn, Alabama. He makes summer plans with his friend and even gets an invitation to be part of the Junior Librarian Program.

But when he gets home that day, he finds out all his plans are ruined, because someone has bought their current renovation, and they're moving to Florida, Spectacle Key to be exact. His parents promise that this move will be different, because they plan to live in the renovated lighthouse for a long time. They want to be closer to his grandfather, who lives in Miami, and they understand that Frank needs to be at a school longer so he can make friends.

The lighthouse on Spectacle Key is a disaster. It seems everything that could go wrong is going wrong, from mold everywhere and ceiling fans crashing down to the electricity blinking on and off and crabs invading the lighthouse. It has made Frank's parents grumpy, and they're bickering constantly. Frank and his dog, Mary Shelley, go outside to explore, and find the only other structure on their key, an abandoned building. Someone has written, "HELP ME, FARNK" in the sand on the floor, and there's a creepy doll sitting there waiting for them.

The next day, Frank tries an experiment in the abandoned building (no parents to tell him no or fire hazards when there are no furnishings), and the experimental fire gets really out of hand. When the fire goes out, written in the sand is FARNK, FARNK, FARNK, and there's a girl standing beside the test tube that he's never seen before. She doesn't remember her name, or very much about where she came from. And no one can see her but Frank and his dog.

After talking to the local psychic, Frank realizes that the key is cursed, and the only way to make things better is to solve the mystery of who is writing his name (and misspelling it!), who is the girl who only he can see and hear, and who is the lost child whose name needs to be shared to lift the curse.

I enjoyed reading this book. It is a fun mystery and ghost story. Part of the ending wasn't exactly realistic in my view, but I can suspend disbelief for a good story! Thanks to Netgalley for the advance copy of this book.

Scheduled to post 9/27/22.

What a sweetly creepy story! I loved THE CURSE ON SPECTACLE KEY! Even though I knew what was coming (a story about a haunted lighthouse), I was sad for Frank when they had to move from Alabama. It was apparent that he'd basically gotten his hopes up in finally staying in one place, just to have the rug ripped out from under him. That hurt. But the story he wrote for himself on Spectacle Key I think more than made up for what he lost (even though it still hurt a little).

I loved the weaving of genuinely creepy elements, like the mysterious knocking on the door and the moving doll (terrifying, seriously) with something that is more wholesome in Alice, and even Snuffles. Although I have to admit that's an odd name for a ghost. Granted, when things started going sideways, it created an excellent juxtaposition of a seemingly innocuous name against some rather nasty things happening on the island. It played with my brain a little.

I also loved how the concept of the curse was kind of squishy. Is the island actually cursed, or was it haunted by history doomed to repeat itself if people forgot about it? I guess that is its own kind of curse, right? The curse of oblivion, of not seeing beyond the end of your own nose, whether willfully or otherwise. 

Frank's drive for information was totally relatable, and I loved watching him try to solve problems and sometimes struggle through them. Plans don't always play out, and Frank learned that the hard way.

And the way Acevedo captured that awkward age where a kid desperately wants to be independent, but when things get tough, they know exactly where to run. That was balanced wonderfully. And how Frank wasn't alone in the end. The parents were never far from him (kind of rare in young adult and younger books, honestly, not that it's a problem, it's just refreshing to see the parents playing an active role in the story) and played an active part in Frank's life. He had to actively sneak around them and got caught more than once. I guess what I'm saying is there was no distance between them (even though sometimes he felt his parents were a million miles away).

THE CURSE ON SPECTACLE KEY is a great, engaging story that has some seriously creepy elements and balances it with a sweet, and slightly heart-wrenching story about a boy trying to keep history from being forgotten. I can't recommend it enough.

5

This is a fun book for younger readers, although some may find it too frightening. It is an excellent ghost story.

Frank Fernandez is tired of moving every year. His parents renovate abandoned structures into livable homes and he has been moving repeatedly when they discover a new project. When they announce they are moving to Florida to live and renovate a lighthouse, Frank is skeptical this will be their last move.

Spooky things start occurring on Spectacle Key when the Fernandezses arrive. Frank meets an invisible girl who thinks it is 1921. Objects fly through the air and a mysterious doll keeps appearing in places it shouldn't. Add to these creepies is the appearance of Snuffles, who desperately wants to be remembered and has regular scary tantrums when he is failed.

I found this to be a short and engaging read and I was eager to find out the mystery of the Key myself. I think young readers who enjoy RL Stein would like this book but as I said, it might be too scary for some in the younger audience.

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.
This is a fun middle grade supernatural mystery. I love how it immediately captures the feeling of being a misfit through Frank’s character, being part of a family who moves around a lot. The setting also matches, being just a bit out of place, with Frank moving through it and uncovering the mysteries within it, especially within the old lighthouse his parents are working on. It’s a sweet, unorthodox way for him to find friendship and companionship with another outsider like himself (albeit of a different sort).

When his family moves to an old lighthouse on the Florida Keys, a bookworm meets an invisible girl with amnesia and uncovers an ancient curse.

Atmospheric and spooky, Acevedo's speculative mystery focuses on uncomfortable truths in personal and community histories and the importance of confronting them to bring about healing and growth. Although creepy, the story stops short of being a truly terrifying horror, keeping friendship and hope in the forefront throughout. I'd recommend this one to fans of middle grade ghost stories and eerie mysteries. It could also suit for a middle grade book club.

As fifth grade comes to an end Frank Fernandez discovers that the last day of school is the best day of the year. Finally he is spending it in school, enjoying pizza parties and water balloon races instead of at home packing boxes and loading moving trucks. But just as Frank is imagining a summer spent with a new friend, his parents break the news: they have yet again found a renovation opportunity they can’t pass up. This time the Cuban-American family will be rehabbing an abandoned lighthouse in the Florida Keys, near where his mother grew up. Three pieces of good news make the move less of a total disaster - Spectacle Key is near Frank’s beloved grandfather Pop-Pop, the Fernandez’s will never move again, and now that they are settling down Frank is gifted a Great Dane puppy that immediately steals his heart.
But if it seems too good to be true it usually is, and very quickly it becomes obvious to Frank, a lover of horror fiction, that something is very wrong on Spectacle Key: his usually loving parents can’t stop sniping at each other, the lighthouse is besieged by biblical-level plagues, an unscrupulous neighbor is determined to drive them out, and when Frank investigates the abandoned orphanage next door he discovers both a mis-spelled message written in the dust “Help Me, Farnk” and a mysterious white girl his age, who is lost. When it turns out only he can see and touch his new friend, Frank knows something supernatural is going on. Together the two kids set out, determined to get to the bottom of multiple mysteries and find a way to make spooky Spectacle Key Frank’s permanent home.
There are lots of engaging details in Frank’s story and the set up of a rootless, lonely, bookish child discovering and solving a mystery that connects him to a past and a place, is timeless. The friendship between the specter-child and Frank feels real. Unfortunately the mystery and the villains have Scooby-Do level verisimilitude with a page length suited to more mature readers and content. Too many elements are packed in and too much of the plot is the result of supernatural forces that fail to follow a consistent pattern. Frank never quite feels like a real 5th grade child, referring to all the “scary novels” he has at home while longing for a ‘bestest friend’ and recoiling from his puppy’s ‘stinky breath’. Perhaps the odd mix of adult and juvenile vocabulary and a stinky breathed individual from a group known for sweet-breath could all be explained, but these odd authorial choices combined with the pile-on of action, plot devices, and excessive length drag down what should have been a short, fun, shivery read.
Thank you to NetGalley and Balzer + Bray for an e-version ARC of this book. My review is based on an uncorrected proof.

This book was so fun! It’s the perfect balance of spooky and mystery for middle grade readers.

The concept of a haunted lighthouse in the Florida Keys was so cool. I love all the details and atmosphere of the setting. Frank is a great protagonist and I love how he handles the different situations thrown at him. He felt like an authentic fifth-grader-going-into-sixth grade boy. I also love his obsession with horror things and science and how he used both to help him solve the mysterious hauntings.

As I neared the end, I expected the story to be left hanging for a sequel, but everything was wrapped up, even if it was a little rushed. I like how everything tied together, though.

This book is perfect for a young reader who wants to dip their toes into something a little spooky without it being overwhelming or gruesome. Highly recommend to fans of Small Spaces and Doll Bones.