Watch Hollow

Eleven-year-old Lucy Tinker; her pubescent brother, Oliver; and their clocksmith father, Charles Tinker, are down on their luck—Lucy and Oliver’s mother has died, and the family’s antiques business is failing. When Mr. Quigley, an enigmatic stranger, smoothly offers Mr. Tinker a pile of gold coins to repair the clock at his Rhode Island residence, called Blackford House, things seem to be looking up. The dilapidated mansion is deep in the woods, a dramatic change from their city life, and the family is invited to live there temporarily. When a little wooden dog and other animal statues come to life after midnight and insist that Lucy is now the caretaker of the house, she soon discovers that “There are places in this world where magic is real.” The animals have been hungry and frozen each day since the evil monster Garr appeared, and the house’s giant cuckoo clock has stopped working. To protect the world and their new friends, Lucy and Oliver find themselves fighting alongside the animals in an inspiring battle against the Garr and enchanted woods that feed on fear. While the villain’s motivation has been seen before, Funaro (Alistair Grim’s Odditorium) writes action-packed chapters that create suspense en route to a cliffhanger ending, which suggests that a scary sequel may be on the way. Final art not seen by PW. Ages 8–12. (Feb.)