From the Publisher
"A wicked-fun friendship series, packed with deliciously creepy scares."
—Lauren Myracle, co-author of the New York Times-bestselling Upside-Down Magic series
"A crackling, suspenseful tale of true sisterhood."
—Sarah Mlynowski, New York Times-bestselling author of the Whatever After series
"Fast-paced, action-packed, and just as fun as it is frightening. A sure winner."
—Jarrett Lerner, author of EngiNerds
School Library Journal
06/01/2018
Gr 3–6—Kat Shepherd draws from 1990s kid lit canon in this creepy tale of babysitting gone wrong. Middle-schooler Rebecca Chang and her friends Clio, Maggie, and Tanya love babysitting for their neighbor's infant son, Kyle. He's happy and easygoing—that is, until a power outage during a storm alters the child's personality and creates strange occurrences in his home. After consulting Clio's Aunt Kawanna, the girls are convinced that Kyle has been replaced by a changeling and they are the only ones who can return the child to his family. The story ends happily, but with the door open for another spine-tingling adventure. Clothing descriptions and scares take precedence over character development, but readers won't mind; the chills and cliff-hangers are the real attraction here. Vieira's stylized black-and-white illustrations add to the creep factor without being too graphic or frightening for younger readers, and take care to highlight the cultural diversity found in the friend group. VERDICT Fans of "Goosebumps" and the updated "Baby-Sitters' Club" graphic novels will find lots to like in this delightfully monstrous mash-up.—Katherine Barr, Cameron Village Regional Library, Raleigh, NC
Kirkus Reviews
2018-05-14
Sweet, happy baby Kyle is a babysitter's dream, until the evening after a mysterious storm, when he becomes a little terror—literally!In this first book of the Babysitting Nightmares series aimed at preteens who like contemporary stories with a fright, sixth-grader Rebecca Chin finds her babysitting job grows considerably harder when her favorite baby behaves increasingly strangely. Rebecca, her three best friends, Clio, Tanya, and Maggie, and Clio's aunt follow mysterious clues and research the supernatural to conclude that Kyle has been kidnapped by the Night Queen and replaced with a changeling. Kyle's only hope is for the girls to enter the Nightmare Realm themselves to rescue him. Deliciously creepy clues, mysterious happenings, and downright harrowing monsters make for a fun and frightful break in the lives of these average girls, and a final showdown of wits and courage sets the stage for future encounters with the Night Queen. The ensemble cast of characters with diverse backgrounds and interests, including some interpersonal tension, also sets up future installments. (Rebecca's Chinese-American, Cleo's black, Tanya's brown-skinned, and Maggie's white.) Unfortunately, some of the scary fun is tempered by the sporadic, uninspired illustrations that do not do the details in the prose justice. Nevertheless, this is a fizzy option for readers interested in dipping a toe into the horror genre.Frightful (but not too frightful) fun for preteens. (Horror. 9-12)
