Paul Tremblay's middle grade debut, Another, is unlike his non-middle grade, full-on horror novels, obviously, but it's still full-on Tremblay, and I've gotta say: this one drummed up all the fear and dread, possibly more so than his other books, even.

I had planned my usual plan. That is, I was going to dive in, hit that first page, then keep on flying, flying, flying, greedily gobbling up the words like Ms. Pac-Man does pellets, racing to clear the board, finish the story, let it go all aswirl inside me and delight a cloudburst of sated synapses. I was going to do that. I had every intention of doing so, and, to be fair, I maybe probably sort of could've? What was stopping me, after all? That's when I realized how this book was hitting me, that the dread was creeping in, doing horror story mind tricks in my brain. The fear had taken hold. I was terrified.

Could Casey survive this strange sleepover? And, would he still be Casey?

It was getting to me, maybe got me wondering if I, too, could survive this.

So racing gave way to pacing. A couple chapters, then a break. This only lasted a couple cycles, though.

Damn the fear! I had to know what happened. I had to keep going. I had to. For Casey.

This novel, Another, is one for the ages, no doubt (and, were a book a club, it'd be all ages, too), but it is also, more importantly, a novel for now. We need this story for now and for going forward. We need all the hope and heart it contains, like we need each other.

And remember, "stories keep going."

ANOTHER is a seriously creepy novel made all the more so due to the intensely subtle terror, creeping on little cat feet like fog. I realize "intensely subtle" sounds like an oxymoron: just read ANOTHER and see. Reading it is equivalent to watching your mind collapse as reality busily skews itself around you. If you've read Paul Tremblay's masterpieces A HEAD FULL OF GHOSTS and DISAPPEARANCE AT DEVIL'S ROCK, you're going to leap for joy when you start ANOTHER.

I will be 49 next month. So why am I reading a Middle Grade book?

1. I got an advanced copy from NetGalley.
2. I am an unapologetic Paul Tremblay fangirl, so I would have read it anyway.
3. I am extremely curious about what a PT Middle Grade book would be like, and if he intends to emotionally-devastate young minds.
4. I need to see if it’s finally time to get my nieces and nephews into reading PT.

It was really good! Maybe I need to get into Middle Grade books because they are really quick reads. And you know I love me a quick read.

I’ve always liked how PT writes kids… I’m talking to you, Disappearance at Devil’s Rock. So I knew that part of it would ring true. It’s also pretty creepy. Not ambiguous/emotionally-devastating like his adult stuff. But I thought it was pretty sophisticated (if that’s the right word) for that age group. Like, actually intelligent and challenging. (Not that I have other MG books to compare it to.)

On a personal note, this kid had transient tic disorder which I guarantee I had as a kid. I remember a teacher bringing it up to my parents. Never saw anyone about it, but eventually it went away. There’s a lot of good stuff here about loneliness and the struggle of being a kid. And the relationship between Casey and his sister was great.

I hope this gets traction with The Kids… and leads them to more PT when they’re old enough to handle emotional devastation.

Oooo. This is a fun one. I got Coraline vibes from it. Although it's middle grade, it's still crazy creepy. My elementary aged daughter loves scary stories so I'll share this one with her in a couple of years.

I did find some typos (missing words) throughout, but I know it's uncorrected.

Thanks for the ARC! Will review on goodreads and my Instagram @stressiereads this week!

A fun, quick read! Like a souped up Goosebumps book (complimentary). I know ambiguous endings are Paul Tremblay’s thing so I wasn’t sure how the ending would go in a middle grade format. I was very pleasantly surprised! (No spoilers for you.) I loved this, it was very Growing Things vibes.

Thanks to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for this eARC in exchange for an honest review.