A Babysitter's Guide to Monster Hunting

A Babysitter’s Guide to Monster Hunting
By Joe Ballarini
Katherine Tegen Books, An Imprint of HarperCollins Publishers, 2017. 338 p.

Alright, who knows kids that like reading books about monsters that are pretty creepy? You know, the kind that likes Goosebumps or Mary Downing Hahn books. Well, this is another book for those readers who love the spooky feeling that comes every October when the world thinks of ghosts and goblins and all things Halloween. The only thing is this book also might appeal to kids who like the Babysitters Club and books about kids who have to figure out relationships of friends and potential boys they like. This is a mix of those two worlds. And it was pretty fun to read.

Kelly wants to save money so she can go to a fancy summer camp. So she starts babysitting. On Halloween. And she loses the kid to a monster. Yup, her life is totally not going the way she planned. Kelly soon learns that there are babysitters and then there are babysitters who are more like warriors who save the world from monsters. The kind of monsters that come out from under the bed or from darkened closets and live off of the screams of little children. And Kelly also realizes that she can do more than she thinks she can (just wait until the climax when she has to outmaneuver the main monster with a less-than-ideal weapon). Yeah, give this to the kids who like being scared. And who want a little character/relationship development to go along with their monsters and action.

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