The Devouring by Simon Holt

When Reggie finds a mysterious journal mixed in with the other books delivered to the bookstore, she can't resist bringing it home to take another look. The Devouring is the title, and it talks about the story of a girl whose brother is taken by the Vours on Sorry Night. His body remains, but his soul is taken.

Now that their mom is gone, Reggie has taken over most of the mom duties for her younger brother Henry. She's a little sick of the normal bedtime stories, so she reads him a chapter from The Devouring. She should have known that he couldn't handle it, he's always been a bit of a scaredy cat.

Now, no matter what she tells him, Henry is convinced the Vours will come for him on the night of the winter solstice...tonight. They will come to devour his fears. Reggie and her best friend Aaron are big horror buffs, so they decide to take the challenge. They taunt the Vours with one of their biggest fears, and come out relatively unscathed...but Henry is different.

The next day he maims his favorite teddy bear, Kappy. Reggie chocks it up to Henry's struggle to deal with the fact that their mother walked out on them, and their father's inability to cope. Kids that deal with heavy stuff like that act out, right? After several other incidents, Reggie is starting to think that it's something more. She and Aaron consult her boss, the proprietor of Something Wicked, a bookshop specializing in the gothic, gruesome, and grisly. Together they start investigating the author of the journal.

After visiting the home of Macie and Jeremiah, the three are convinced that Vours do exist. Reggie will do whatever it takes to save her brother, even if it means taking on the Vour herself! Will they find a way to banish the evil, and return Henry to normal? High suspense, interesting plot line, and well written details keep the reader interested. Quick read for reluctant readers, recommended for high school.

"When dark creeps in and eats the light,

Bury your fears on Sorry Night.

For in the winter's blackest hours

Comes the feasting of the Vours

No one can see it, the life they stole,

Your body's here but not your soul...." (Holt pg 4, 2008).

*Library Link*

If you liked this, check out:

The Devouring: The Solstice by Simon Holt (Devouring, Book 2)

Paranormalacy by Kiersten White

Falling Under by Gwen Hayes

Holt, S. (2008). The Devouring. New York: Little, Brown.