These are not books for the faint hearted, but they balance a perfect line between being too scary for kids and making hearts thump.
In The Troll Heart, brother and sister duo Anna and Max head into the foggy, secluded countryside of England.
Their father, the Professor, is busy with his studies, leaving Anna and Max to roam the grounds of the empty hotel they are staying at. Empty because only a few days earlier a boy went missing, and now no one wants to stay there.
Anna and Max sense that something weird is going on, so they set out to find the missing boy. But what they discover is not anything they ever expected.
You can probably predict that an evil troll is at the heart of the story. You would be correct. But you will never predict just how evil the creature is, what it is trying to do and where the missing boy has gone.
Jack Henseleit has once again delivered a spine-tingling and un-put-downable novel for middle grade readers. His novels are very addictive and they pull you into a world of intrigue, mystery and scary monsters.
One of the things I really love about this series is the exploration of traditional fables associated with the creatures featured in the stories. In The Troll Heart, you will pick up on things about trolls you’ll remember from stories and legends.
But Henseleit also goes further than this. His creatures have features and his plots go in directions that are unpredictable. These books are fresh and new and they provide a cool new perspective on mythical beasts.
The book does stand alone, and you could definitely read it without reading the first novel in the series (The Vampire Knife), but I do recommend starting from the beginning.
The whole series is fantastic, and I think kids will feel they are missing out if they don’t start from the start. If you know kids who love scary mysteries, this is the series for them!
Title: The Troll Heart
Author: Jack Henseleit
Publisher: Hardie Grant Egmont, $16.99
Publication Date: 1 February 2018
Format: Paperback
ISBN: 9781760129262
For ages: 8+
Type: Middle Grade Fiction