The Shadow Hand (Babysitting Nightmares Series #1)

by Kat Shepherd, Rayanne Vieira (Illustrator)

Overview

"Fans of Goosebumps and the updated Baby-Sitters' Club graphic novels will find lots to like in this delightfully monstrous mash-up." —School Library Journal

Got chills? Babysitting can be a real nightmare in The Shadow Hand, the first book in Kat Shepherd's spooky adventure series Babysitting Nightmares!

For Rebecca Chin, babysitting has always been fun. But one night, a thunderstorm knocks the power out while she’s watching baby Kyle, and creepy things begin to happen in the house. A locked window opens by itself, mossy handprints streak the wall, and the baby begins acting strange. When she finds out that no one else in town was affected by the storm, Rebecca begins to wonder if something supernatural is going on.

Fellow sitters Tanya, Clio, and Maggie help Rebecca unravel the mystery, only to discover something unbelievable. A sinister, paranormal villain has taken the baby and replaced him with a changeling! The girls can save him—if they can survive a scary journey into the Nightmare Realm!

There are a handful of black-and-white illustrations by Rayanne Vieira for the key spine-tingling moments.

Read the whole series:

Babysitting Nightmares: The Shadow Hand

Babysitting Nightmares: The Phantom Hour

Babysitting Nightmares: The Twilight Curse

Babysitting Nightmares: The Vampire Doll

An Imprint Book

"These spooky stories of friendship and paranormal adventure will have young readers flipping pages well past their bedtime."

—Jennifer Chambliss Bertman, New York Times-bestselling author of Book Scavenger

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781250156969
Publisher:	Imprint
Publication date:	06/05/2018
Series:	Babysitting Nightmares Series , #1
Pages:	208
Sales rank:	748,305
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.30(h) x 0.70(d)
Age Range:	8 - 12 Years

About the Author

Kat Shepherd is thrilled that her writing debut is a fast-paced story that is likely to engage reluctant readers, because as an educator, she believes that reading should be a joyful experience for every child. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband, two dogs, and a rotating series of foster dogs. Each year she and her husband travel to a different national park for her wedding anniversary, and they have been lucky enough to also visit places like South Africa, Paris, and the Galapagos Islands. Babysitting Nightmares is her first middle grade series.

Editorial Reviews

"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

From the Publisher

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

School Library Journal

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)

Kirkus Reviews