Boo!: Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Fear (But Were Afraid to Ask) is a captivating middle-grade treasury of everything scary, written by Clive Gifford (How Airports Work) and illustrated by Rohan Eason (Wildwitch series illustrator). It delves into the realm of fear, discussing how and why the body reacts to terror; the history of spooky festivals, superstitions, and "scaretainment"; and even how to write scary stories.
Gifford grabs his target audience immediately with a humorously ghoulish introduction to the source of feeling afraid: "we must start by taking a journey inside your bony crash helmet to investigate a cauliflower-sized lump of soggy, wobbly matter with extraordinary abilities." He uses direct, clear language to show the inner workings of the brain as it processes threats and how the body responds to the brain's signals.
Once readers are educated in the science of fear, Gifford takes them through an unsettling maze of spellbinding history and exciting facts, examining new elements at each turn. Readers learn why so many people find clowns disturbing, how some animals respond to threats, and the origins of Halloween and jack-o'-lanterns. Gifford requires no tricks, but he does treat readers to the history of scary stories and, in a section titled "Terror Teaches," explains the roles those stories have in "encouraging people to act in what their group or society thought was the right way." The final chapter offers writing advice, including story starters, grippers, "deadly descriptions," and twists. The "best tip of all" is "to read as many thrilling and chilling stories... as you can."
Eason contributes to the text's disquieting tone with his black, white, and red mixed-media art. Blood drips from the tops of pages, a skeleton hand proffers a meaty red brain for viewing, and full- and double-page illustrations feature frightening images such as bloodied zombies pouring out of a train car. Eason's art, which depicts the straightforward as well as the scary, is realistic, with heavy cross-hatching; it's (fittingly) reminiscent of the work of Edward Gorey.
Whether readers enjoy fear or dread it, they should be intrigued by Gifford's extensive examination of this hair-raising subject. As he states, "If there's one thing your brain dislikes, it's not knowing. If something is unknown or unfamiliar, your brain is instantly on the alert." Armed with all this knowledge about fear, readers may go forth and confidently face all that goes bump in the night. --Jen Forbus, freelancer
Shelf Talker: Clive Gifford and Rohan Eason shine a light on fear and show middle-grade readers how fascinating and entertaining terror itself can be.