Ghosts are all around us, if we are only willing to look.
Blue Balliet’s Out of the Wild Night is a simultaneously touching and spine-tingling tale of supernatural mischief and survival. As with most ghost stories, setting is critical and in Balliet’s details and descriptions she offers up a beautiful tribute to the Island of Nantucket: its history, people, and way of life. Following our ghostly narrator and a group of children on a mission, the reader is taken on an exciting and compelling journey. Unfortunately, the author’s frequent jumps in point of view can make the journey a little difficult for the reader to follow, delaying full investment in the story. The surprise twist of an ending, however, is well worth the minor confusion that can occur. Despite this very small difficulty, Out of the Wild Night leaves the reader with more than just a craving for some warm Wonders as Balliet honors the ghosts of our past while calling us to look toward the future.
This book was sent to Compass Book Ratings for review by Scholastic Press (A Scholastic Imprint)
Content Analysis:
Profanity/Language: None
Violence/Gore: Many references to death; several references to a shipwreck that killed all aboard, including children; reference to many shipwrecks and drownings; many scenes of or references to ghostly high jinx and/or violence; older character falls and breaks her hip; many references to/depictions of destruction of historic homes; reference to man being wounded in war; reference to a girl being knocked over my two women; an extended and mildly graphic description of the whaling industry; worker sustains serious injuries; reference to a toddler drowning; man sustains serious injuries in a car accident; man chews the inside of his cheek from stress; boy hits head on bench; character nearly drowns; man hit by door; girl thrown to the ground; reference to violent fairy tales; character attempts to bulldoze house.
Sex/Nudity: None
Mature Subject Matter:
Death, history, supernatural, preservation, community.
Alcohol / Drug Use:
References to smoking and alcohol consumption.
