Haunted Holiday 02/20/24

Haunted Holiday by Kiersten White (2024) is the conclusion to the Sinister Summer series. Twins Theo and Alexander are back at their aunt's house while their older sister and Edgar go to save their parents. Neither twin wants to sit still and let things happen, so they too find a way to do their part.

Throughout the series the biggest question has been what has happened to all the parents? Each book, or each stop during the summer has led to another family and another mystery. The Sinister-Winterbottoms along with the new friends they've made have come to the conclusion that all the mysteries, large and small, are related to a much larger threat.

This book then is their chance to put everything to rights and learn some long held family secrets. It's also the second time in their summer adventure that the twins will learn that adults don't always tell them the truth. Sometimes adults lie and sometimes they just hold back the truth. They'll also learn that adults sometimes do this when they are trying to protect their kids.

The final confrontation primarily takes place at a beachside amusement park. The rides and other attractions are mermaid and kraken themed in keeping with the last family, the Sirens.

As with the previous books, Haunted Holiday sits on the Road Narrative Spectrum. While the series began fairly high up in the fantasy zone, the series ends at the border with horror as the children have come to understand just what is at stake.

With this understanding, they have re-contextualized themselves as marginalized travelers (66). Their destination is uhoria (CC) - both the past to understand what got them to this situation and the future, in their desire to stop things from going horribly wrong. Their route there is the railroad in the form of an underground traveling system that runs on rails (00).

Five stars

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