Being an avid fan of Kenneth Oppel’s Airborn Series, I didn’t investigate The Nest before I picked it up, other than to see that it had good buzz and was a ALA Notable Book for Young Readers.  Although I had seen this author’s darker side in This Dark Endeavor (which was quite good), I was not prepared for The Nest.  In a nutshell, The Nest is essentially a horror book and is written in a disjointed, confusing style that is reminiscent of a shaky hand-held video recorder.  It was bizarre and slightly disturbing.  No blood or gore here–this is written for middle grade readers, but there is enough creepiness to unsettle.  To be fair, I am not a fan of the horror genre, so that coupled with a writing style I am not fond of makes it impossible for me to sing praises to this book–regardless of how much I have enjoyed Mr. Oppel’s other books and what accolades The Nest has received.

Content Analysis:

Profanity/Language:  None

Violence/Gore:   Character has a series of frightening dreams; insect stings a character; frightening/creepy scene when a character approaches a home with child alone in house an leaves a weapon; frightening/creepy scene involving a phone call; baby is ill; insect is killed by human frightening/creepy extended scene of insect swarming resulting in serious injury.

Sex/Nudity:  None

Mature Subject Matter:

Severe illness, personal and family crisis, mental health/phobia issues, disabilities, kidnapping, supernatural.

Alcohol / Drug Use:

None