#gregory funaro

October 3rd has arrived! How haunted is your home? Have any monsters under your bed?

I love Halloween month. These posts are going up on my Instagram stories every morning!

All The Silent Bones by Gregory Funaro

The book, All the Silent Bones, by Gregory Funaro is overall well-written but not without flaws. As kids, the book’s main characters share a trauma that stays with them into adulthood, showing itself through restless nights and nightmares into eventually, murders. One of the main characters, Bobby, was intense and interesting at the beginning, but it felt like he was put on the back burner later on, which was a letdown. I wish the characters as adults had been as dynamic as they were when kids, and that Bobby had been focused more on when compared to the others. The use of a certain diagnosis felt too much like a crutch, and I wish there were more therapy sessions noted when the author decided to go that route. I did not care for the back-and-forth between the past and the present because it was a little awkward at times and unnecessary at others. The dialogue took the storytelling to another level, however, by flowing nicely and bringing out the characters' personalities. For me, it's a pet peeve whenever authors use the book title or chapter titles in the book itself, so I felt like that was a little redundant. While I wasn't thrilled about the twist, I did like how it was handled; it was still a bit creative and did not feel like a rushed ending. Even though this is a thriller, I found myself laughing often because of the funny dialogue or the wit of Funaro in general. Opposite to that, I found myself feeling a little uneasy after a few scenes. I will say this book is more of a mystery/thriller than a horror, but it still does a good job handling death, killings, and making you think of the darkness within others around you–and perhaps within yourself.

Please help me welcome new client, Gregory Funaro, the NY Times best-selling author of Disney-Hyperion’s ALISTAIR GRIM series and later the WATCH HOLLOW series from Harper Collins. When I found Greg’s query in my inbox I nearly had to pinch myself. I’ve been a fan of his books for quite some time and I was thrilled at the opportunity to read his latest middle grade fantasy, FOXFIRE, and even more thrilled when we realized our visions for the story aligned!

It’s ODD AND THE FROST GIANTS meets A SERIES OF UNFORTUNATE EVENTS, a whimsical adventure whereby twelve year-old Polly Clapper and her younger brother Albert are whisked away to ancient Norway when Polly steps on the coat of a mysterious stranger while on a cruise to see the Northern Lights. There, they meet a time-traveling bandit named Agmundr Goole, who just so happens to be in search of the mythical Fire Fox, whose tail of magical fire is the true source of the Northern Lights. But someone else seeks the Fire Fox, too: a wicked wizard known as Mad Magnusson. And unless the Clapper children can stop him, the Northern Lights will vanish forever and a terrifying evil shall be unleashed upon the world. Not only is FOXFIRE a thrilling tale of magic and adventure, but also the story of two unlikely heroes on their journey towards self-discovery and acceptance.

I am just beyond thrilled to be working with Greg. Go give him a warm KT welcome and congratulate him! You can find him on Twitter and don’t forget to check out his website to learn more about his previously published books!

Alistair Grim's Odditorium - fantasy and steampunk fun! @gregoryfunaro @DisneyHyperion @netgalley

Alistair Grim’s Odditorium, by Gregory Funaro (Jan 2015, Disney-Hyperion), $16.99, ISBN: 9781484700068

Recommended for ages 9-12

Poor Grubb. He’s 12 – or thereabouts, and leads a pretty miserable existence. He was a foundling, and the woman who took him in died, leaving him at the mercy of her drunk, abusive husband, who feeds him only enough to keep him from starving and forces him to work as a…