Review by Booklist Review
Black Sand Beach, where 12-year-old Dash and his best friend Lily are spending summer vacation, is creepy--not just because of Dash's weird relatives, nor because of the dozens of ancient shipwrecks around the shore, and not even because there's no civilization for miles around. It has more to do with the defunct lighthouse that shines at night and with the ghostly voice calling Dash's name. Girding his failing courage, Dash--along with his cousins and sharp-witted Lily--manages to put the curse of the lighthouse to rest. And that, surprisingly, is when things really get creepy, thanks to a bizarre cow (yes, cow) that replaces Lily, and the journal they find that Dash wrote last summer . . . even though he wasn't there last summer. In this launch title from new publisher Pixel+Ink, Fairgray keeps the humor high to soften some genuine spookiness and crafts a cast that readers will want to follow into future volumes. His art, reminiscent of the great, ghastly funny cartoonist Gahan Wilson, strikes that crucial balance as well.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by School Library Journal Review
Gr 3--5--A boring summer at the beach turns into a chilling otherworldly adventure. Dash and his friend Lily head to Black Sand Beach, where Dash's family owns a cabin. Dash is less than thrilled, but Lily thinks the house and eccentric family members are great, especially spirited cousin Andy and prankster Aunt Lynne. When Dash hears voices calling his name and sees a light in the long abandoned lighthouse, he, Lily, and cousins Andy and Eleanor head out to investigate. When they arrive, they become trapped inside the lighthouse and an ocean full of shipwrecked ghosts appears. Mysterious happenings continue when the neighbors need to run their cows (which are in fact paranormal creatures--though everyone but Lily is oblivious to that fact) through the family's land. The multiple story lines don't all tie up perfectly, but the cliff-hanger ending is sure to have readers eagerly awaiting the next installment of the series. Fairgray's bulgy-eyed cartoons are appealing, and his story and his artwork, relying on a palette of grays, blues, and purples, both strike the perfect note: creepy fun tempered by plenty of silliness. VERDICT Fans of Kier Graff's The Matchstick Castle and Ben Hatke's "Zita the Spacegirl" will adore this spooky series starter.--Ellen Conlin, Naperville Public Library, IL
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Review by Kirkus Book Review
Nothing is as it seems at Black Sand Beach. Dash is begrudgingly resigned to a summer spent at his family's ramshackle vacation house at Black Sand Beach, "a place of mystery and intrigue where your darkest nightmares run alongside you as the waves lap at your toes." Eager to escape the sometimes-overbearing family adults, Dash and the other kids--his verve-filled younger cousin, Andy; his even-tempered, fuchsia-haired older cousin, Eleanor; and his best friend, Lily--decide to explore. But strange things keep happening: The beach's nonfunctioning lighthouse is, perhaps quite literally, calling to Dash, and when the kids investigate, they find vengeful ghosts, a monster, and Dash's diary from last year--but it's been six years since he's been there. Perhaps most disturbing are the "changelings" introduced in the third and final chapter: sway-backed, bipedal, horse-headed creatures with protruding ribs and enormous, humanlike mouths on their abdomens. These unresolved mysteries will leave readers with more questions than answers and make them eager for the next volume in the projected series. All characters are white except for Lily, who appears black. In this context, an encounter with the changelings that finds the white vacationers mistaking a monstrous changeling for Lily carries troubling undertones. Thin lines, oversized facial features--Dash's mother even looks remarkably like Lois from Family Guy--and clothing styles from the late 1990s create an early-aughts aesthetic. Creepy, bizarre, and compelling. (Graphic suspense. 8-12) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
