The protagonist of "The Cursed Moon" , Rafa, offers a perspective not often seen in children's literature. He and his younger sister have lived most of their young lives with their single mother who is currently experiencing incarceration. While their mom is out of the picture, their maternal grandparents are taking care of Rafa and his sister, providing some rare stability. Most books I've read about children of incarcerated individuals depict the children as eager to see their parent, but Angela Cervantes takes a more nuanced approach.
Rafa is not looking forward to his mother's return and the instability that comes with her.
Rafa copes with all of this anxiety and frustration by writing horror stories, and he's quite talented. But when he unleashes a creature from one of his stories, The Caretaker, by reading a story during the blood red moon, supernatural horror arrives in the neighborhood.
Rafa must face his fears to defend those he treasures and put the horror story to rest.

With engaging, complex characters and the threat of The Caretaker (and Rafa's mom) looming through the story, this was a fast, fun read!

Cervantes does a clever thing here by routing the haunting through Rafa's story-telling. Since we learn what happened to the affected kids through the story he tells, we don't experience it in the moment. This creates emotional distance that keeps the narrative from becoming too scary for a young reader. With the addition of Rafa's personal, familial conflict the plot is well fleshed out and the characters are believable. For an adult reader this won't be an edge-of-your-seat read but it should go over well with horror enthusiast youngsters.

I really wanted to get to this one, as it seemed interesting. The downfall was that I requested so many ARCs that I could not get to all of them before the book was archived. If I can find this somewhere for a reasonable price, I will try to get it!

Easily one of my favorite MG reads this year. Cervantes provides a satisfying creepy story while also touching on important social themes. I loved how Rafa’s fear of his horror stories coming to life was juxtaposed with his reservations about his incarcerated mother returning home. This is an excellent way to help young readers access tough themes. Highly recommend!

I loved this book and have added it to my library list! My students will love the Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark vibes! The characters were all so enjoyable and I loved all of the relationships Rafael had. It was a delightfully creepy and fun read!

While this did have trouble with pacing, The Cursed Moon is such a great addition to the middle grade genre. You can't help but feel for these characters and want them to make it to the end! I look forward to more from this author.

Thank You Netgalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The Cursed Moon is a well-written middle grade book that will appeal to readers that enjoy spooky as well as reluctant readers. Reading as an adult, the story took me a few chapters to get into. The characters were likable. I really disliked the ending to the story. After all the build up, it felt rushed and disappointing.

Very spooky middle grade! The scary stories told in this were great and actually quite scary. I also loved how this book did tell the story from a child's POV of dealing with a parent that as an addiction and unfortunately serving jail time. I thought it was a great portrayal in an easy digestible way for a child to understand as well. I only wish the ending was a little longer to understand more about the Spooky Caretaker.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this book!

This book was amazing. Everything I wanted in a book. I would definitely recommend it to anyone who hasn’t read it yet.
10/10

Thank you for NetGalley for a copy. I just don’t think this book is for me. It’s middle grade and not something I can really relate to now. I think someone younger would definity enjoy this more!

The Cursed Moon is a well-written middle grade book that will appeal to readers who like to be spooked! I thought the characters were likeable and flawed in the right places. The story took me a few chapters to get into, but all around a great pick. I would like to see more spooky stories out there, honestly, and was glad to see this one was going to be published. Kids like a good story to keep them up late at night and this one hit all the boxes. Thank you NetGalley and to the publisher for the read.

This is an eerie fun story with likable characters! The story was really creative and I had an absolute blast reading it. This was a great read and perfect for anyone who like spooky stories. Special Thank You to Angela Cervantes, Scholastic, and NetGalley for allowing me to read a complimentary copy prior to publication in exchange for an honest review.

Thanks Net Galley and Scholastic for the ARC!

The Cursed Moon was a really engaging read. Fans of Stranger Things, Stand By Me, IT, and Paper Girls will likely enjoy the dynamics of friendship found within this book. I also really appreciated how the author used food to forge connections between the characters. This is a great read for younger readers just starting to get into spooky fiction!

Rafael Fuentes discovers he will be attending summer school just as he's getting ready for his mother to be released from jail. He dreads both things. But he loves writing and telling scary stories. Even after he's warned by a neighbor to avoid telling scary stories during the blood moon, Rafa can't resist telling one after an argument with his grandparents about his mother, whom he refuses to forgive for the neglect he and his sister experienced. But it quickly becomes clear that the warning Rafa received was all too real and now elements of the stories he told are coming to life threatening his sister and his friends. Rafa teams up with his school nemesis who is also being haunted to try to figure out what's going on and what they can do about it. A chant that he included in his story seems to be at the heart of the matter, along with a girl standing by a pond asking for someone to retrieve a book thrown in the pond. As Rafa discovers, the Caretaker, the ghostlike figure at the heart of the story seems determined that Rafa and his friends will be his next target. And if Rafa doesn't figure out how to stop the Caretaker, someone else will end up dead.

Cervantes' storytelling is fabulous, she pulled me right into the story from the first page as Rafa rides to meet his sister after learning about summer school. I immediately empathized with Rafa and his sister who have a very close relationship. The resentment he feels toward his mother contrasts with his sister's eagerness to have her home. And then the scary stories blends into the real parts of the story quite well with a variety of different elements that come together at the end. Blending real life, horror elements, and the fantastical, The Cursed Moon is bound to appeal to young horror fans. The great writing, appealing characters, and blended plot made for a fabulous read that I can't wait to share with young readers.

This book was great. I was surprised a few times by how creepy the scary stories in this one are considering the targeted audience. I read a ton of horror and a few of the bit in this one had me thoroughly creeped out.

There was a lot to love in this one. The horror and creepy story of the caretaker, the relationships between Rafa and his sister as well as with their abuelos. I adored Balam I also really liked that this story addresses some of the heavier things that people face. Rafa's mother is revealed to be an addict and currently in jail. There's brief description of how unstable his mother and living situations were for Rafa and his sister, Brianna. Sometimes as a society we shy away from the "hard things" in life and I think it's important to show that.

However, I really disliked the ending of this story. The conclusion with the caretaker took like, 2 paragraphs total. After all the build up it felt rushed and disappointing, I'd have liked to have seen more of a struggle there. Then, the whole plot line about the kids mother being in jail and coming to live with them was just left... unfinished and rushed. The entire book we have a young character that's dealing with the emotional baggage and trauma of what her decisions and life caused him and him trying to come to terms with his anger and distrust of her and instead of having any scenes with the two of them or any sort of resolution at all, we get a mention in passing that "we are trying" and that's the end.

Over all I really enjoyed this book I binged it in two sessions and LOVED the horror stories and sibling relationship in this one, but it fell really short for me with a rushed, unfinished ending.

** Thank you Netgalley and Scholastic Press for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. **

Rafa loves telling scary stories. To take his mind off impending real life fear, he decides to tell the scariest story yet, despite warnings not to do it because of the blood moon. Soon Rafa realizes his story has come to life and is terrorizing the community.

This one took a little to get into (I'd say about a 1/4 of the book) but then it was more interesting once the spookiness really kicked in. I think some of the target audience might find it a little slow for that reason though.

The Cursed Moon is a spooky and creepy middle-grade story. Each character is different and add to the story. The author did a great job making the story interesting and a page turner. It's perfect for fans of the Goosebumps series or horror in general. I highly recommend it.

“The Cursed Moon” by Angela Cervantes is a fun and spooky middle-grade horror. Rafi’s life has not been easy, especially since his Mom Nikki went to jail. To cope with his real life anxieties Rafi writes scary stories. But on the night of a blood moon his scary stories come to life. It’s equal parts spooky and heartwarming, as it focuses on family and forgiveness.

Rafi loves to tell scary stories. But when his neighbor warns him <i>not</i> to tell stories on the night of the Blood Moon, what is the one thing a kiddo wants to do?? Tell their latest scary story! With the Blood Moon comes a curse. A curse to bring stories to life. But Rafi sets out to break the curse in order to protect his younger sister and his friends and along the way he learns several important lessons: love will always triumph over evil, second chances are worth giving, and listen to your elders--they might just know what they are talking about. ;)

This is a fast-paced and fun middle-grade horror. We have a boy who copes with the anxieties of his life by writing scary stories and at this moment he has plenty to be anxious about. When he tells a scary story during the blood moon after being warned against it, his story comes to life, and boy is it a doozy!

I flew through this in just a couple of hours. It gave great spooky vibes I really enjoyed the plot, and kept me entertained from the first page.