In A Little Too Haunted, Justine Pucella Winans delivers another paranormal tale with a unique premise. This story of Luna Catalona, the daughter of two women who have made their modest fame flipping haunted houses, is one of ghostly mystery and angsty teen coming of age. Young readers are likely to identify with several aspects of Luna’s personality that are common to most teens – the need for acceptance, a desire to be seen, and a quest to find out where they fit in the world. As Luna searches for friends and a place to belong, she struggles with other conflicts not as common to all teens, such as what to do when your house is well and truly haunted for real. This complication makes meeting friends, and keeping them, a bigger challenge than usual, and the stubborn persistence of some characters to think that she has an overactive imagination leads to a frustration of not being understood. For this reason, the character is likely to really resonate with young readers who are at an age when being misunderstood can be almost universal.

This installment of Winans’ literature feels a little different than some of her past writings. In some ways, the difference is enjoyable. For example, this book really draws the reader in to the main character’s feelings and personality in a personal way that her previous books have not. However, the other characters in this book felt over the top in some ways, seeming more like caricatures than believable characters. The reader never really feels that they get to know or care for any of the friends or relatives in this book in any personal or relatable way, and they stay squarely in the category of supporting cast. Overall, this book is a solid narrative that moves along at a nice pace, but it doesn’t have the depth that draws a reader in to hold their attention.

Review of an Advance Reading Copy provided by the Publisher

Content Analysis:

Profanity/Language: 8 religious exclamations.

Violence/Gore: A character is drenched with blood; a character is minorly injured in a fall, with a little blood described; a story involves a child burning animals; a story involving arson and murder; objects bleed; a verbal threat: a few creepy scenes with ghosts; a report of murders; a few instances in which character is injured by burning, including once when a character’s skin burns so that bone is exposed; report of a fire with deaths; a character tells a ghost story in which a person receives bloody injuries; a few characters have visible wounds from old injuries; minor property damage; a monster burns to ash.

Sex/Nudity: Mention of a girl’s training bra; a few brief mentions of a girl’s period; a girl tries stuffing her bra to avoid her flat-chested appearance; teen girls have a crush on each other, and this plot element is referenced a few times; a girl thinks about kissing another girl’s lips and glances briefly at her chest; two teen girls kiss; a girl holds another’s hands; a teen takes an online quiz to find out if they’re gay; mention that a character has a pansexual relative; two teens discuss lesbianism and being nonbinary.

Mature Subject Matter:

Lesbianism (including a married couple); bullying (including cyberbullying); bisexuality (mention); pansexuality (mention); use of nonbinary pronouns (which at times makes the narrative confusing due to they/them being used in the singular); chronic illness (IBS); self-sacrifice; loss of a friend; arson; murder; death of a pet (mentioned in the acknowledgements, not the story itself).

Alcohol/Drug Use:

None