#IMWAYR: Bite-Sized Reviews of The House at the End of the Sea, Stage Fright, The Skeleton Flute, and Safe Harbor

Posted January 13, 2025 by Nicole @ Feed Your Fiction Addiction in Reviews / 8 Comments

I’ve joined up with the IT’S MONDAY! WHAT ARE YOU READING? kid-lit edition, hosted by Unleashing Readers.

Today I’m sharing reviews of three books that I absolutely adored: two middle-grade debuts and a YA novel by an author that many of us know and love–CG Drews from Paper Fury! Hope these bite-sized reviews are enough to feed your fiction addiction!


#IMWAYR: Bite-Sized Reviews of The House at the End of the Sea, Stage Fright, The Skeleton Flute, and Safe HarborThe House at the End of the Sea by Victoria M. Adams
Published by Andersen Press on May 2, 2024
Genres: Contemporary Fantasy
Pages: 256
Source: The Author
Cover Artist: Sharon King-Chai
My rating:
4 Stars

Saffi doesn't want her new life, living with her dad, little brother and old-fashioned grandparents in their B&B by the sea. She is grieving for her mum and longs for things to go back to normal.

But this new home is anything but normal: the walls change colour, a face appears in the mirror, and the pantry is suddenly filled with fancy food. When a party of extraordinary visitors arrive at midnight, Saffi begins to realise that her family has a dark, magical secret. It will take all her bravery to discover the truth and find a way into another world ...

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The House at the End of the Sea is a gorgeously atmospheric mysterious contemporary fantasy for middle grade readers. The titular setting is practically a character in the book, it’s so well-drawn. Not only is the sea important to the story (including a cave with dangers caused by high tides!), but the house itself is incredibly mysterious – constantly changing and giving the kids ominous clues about the mysterious boarders they’re not supposed to interact with. Readers will keep turning the pages and they want to know more about who these strange residents are and just why they’re off limits. The book also deals with issues of grief and family strife (and secrets!), and features a biracial MC who finds her dual-identity a strength in the end. So much heart in this lovely book!

***Thank you to the author for providing me with a copy of the book!***


#IMWAYR: Bite-Sized Reviews of The House at the End of the Sea, Stage Fright, The Skeleton Flute, and Safe HarborStage Fright by Wendy Parris
Published by Delacorte on September 17, 2024
Genres: Horror, Middle Grade
Pages: 224
Source: Edelweiss, Purchased
My rating:
4 Stars

A new locked room scary story about twelve-year-old Avery, who plans a séance at a deserted theater to bond with her friends, only to realize they’re locked inside with someone—or something—else. This spine tingling read is perfect for fans of Katherine Arden and Lindsay Currie!

When Avery returns to her hometown after moving away a year earlier, she is hoping to jump back into her friend group as if nothing’s changed.Unfortunately, new interests, secret crushes, and changing dynamics get in her way. To reunite her BFFs, she suggests they host a séance at an abandoned theater that was the site of a horrible tragedy.What starts as a fun outing, soon becomes a fight for survival after the group gets locked in…and discovers they’re not alone.

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This is a truly scary middle grade story about friends who sneak out at night on a spooky mission, only to end up locked in an abandoned theater where they face a vengeful ghost – and their own fears come to life! Avery wants desperately to reconnect with her best friends after moving away. She expected to come back to bond with them, but instead realizes everything about the friendship dynamic has changed. So, she’ll do anything – even go on a creepy quest to commune with a ghost in an old haunted theater – to prove she’s still got what it takes to fit in with them. But things go very wrong when an actual ghost appears – and it does not seem happy to see them! This book is truly creepy, and it takes a few unexpected twists and turns that keep the reader guessing about what’s really going on and how it will all turn out! Plus, so many kids will relate to the story of changing friendships. MG horror fans will absolutely love this book!!


#IMWAYR: Bite-Sized Reviews of The House at the End of the Sea, Stage Fright, The Skeleton Flute, and Safe HarborThe Skeleton Flute by Damara Allen
Published by Aladdin on August 27, 2024
Genres: Contemporary Fantasy, Horror, Middle Grade
Pages: 366
Source: Edelweiss
Cover Artist: Isabelle Duffy
My rating:
4 Stars

The legend of the Pied Piper meets Sal and Gabi Break the Universe with a touch of Coraline in this spooky and suspenseful middle grade adventure about a boy whose wish goes horribly wrong and his fight to reunite with his real family.

Sam Windsor’s parents and younger siblings, Grayson and Addie, are his whole world, so when his parents announce they’re separating, Sam is devastated. He’d do anything to make his parents change their minds and keep the family together. When a stranger offers a flute made of bone that supposedly grants the player’s wish, Sam doesn’t really believe it will work but figures he has nothing to lose.

Surprisingly, the wish on the skeleton flute comes true. The next day, his parents are happily in love, with no plans for his dad to leave. But there’s a major problem: his parents’ relationship isn’t the only thing in his life that has changed, and some of the changes are definitely for the worse.

Caught in a world full of unintended consequences and familiar strangers, Sam has limited options for returning to his old life—worries, challenges, and all. Can he track down the mysterious man who gave him the flute and undo his wish?

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The Skeleton Flute is a new take on the story of the Pied Piper that will have kids rethinking what they wish for! Sam’s parents are getting separated, and he’d do anything to change that. So when a strange man offers to help him with a magical flute, Sam takes a chance, even though he’s skeptical that anything could possibly come of it. Well, when he wakes up, the world is completely different. His parents are happy, sure, but so many other things are different too. And as time goes on, he starts to realize that something sinister has brought him to this strange new world – and that there just might be others suffering the consequences for his wish. I don’t want to spoil anything, so I won’t go into detail about the surprising discoveries that Sam makes along the way – or the dangerous journey he has to make to set things right – but I’ll just say that kids will definitely be enthralled with the story and want to know what’s going to happen next! This book is creepy and fantastical in all the best ways!

***Thank you to the publisher and Edelweiss for providing me with a copy of the book!***


#IMWAYR: Bite-Sized Reviews of The House at the End of the Sea, Stage Fright, The Skeleton Flute, and Safe HarborSafe Harbor by Padma Venkatraman
Published by Nancy Paulsen Books, Nowness Books on January 21, 2025
Genres: Contemporary, Middle Grade, Verse
Pages: 175
Source: The Publisher
Cover Artist: Oriol Vidal
My rating:
4 Stars

An uplifting novel in verse about an immigrant girl adjusting to life in the US through her love of nature, music, and poetry, by the award-winning author of The Bridge Home.

When Geetha and her mom move from India to Rhode Island after her parents’ divorce, they leave everything Geetha loves behind—her family, her friends, her dog, and all that’s familiar. As if that’s not hard enough, Geetha is bullied at her new school for her clothes, her food, and her English (who knew so many English words could be spelled or pronounced differently in the US—or just be altogether different!). She finds some solace in playing her flute and writing poetry, and even more when she meets Miguel, a kid with whom she has a lot in common, and the two of them help rescue an injured harp seal stranded on the beach. But Geetha can feel her anger building over lots of things—careless people who pollute the sea and hurt animals, and her mom for making her move. She’s never been so sad and angry. She can see a lot of her fears mirrored in the injured seal when she visits it at the Marine Mammal Rehabilitation Center, and this broadens her understanding of survival skills. And when she and Miguel start a beach-clean-up venture, she’s surprised to find how many kind kids are out there. Geetha is torn as the time comes to let the seal go, knowing she’ll miss him, but wanting the best for him. She’s learning to live with mixed feelings and accept that while there will always be rough waters, there are plenty of safe harbors too.

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A very sweet story about accepting change and the many ebbs and flows that come with it. When Geetha’s mother moves them from India to the US, Geetha isn’t very happy about it. She has to find ways to adapt to new weather patterns, new foods, a new culture, and schoolmates who aren’t particularly welcoming. Luckily, she finds her voice–and her people–after discovering an injured seal on the beach. She decides not only to help the seal, but to be a vessel of change in her community. An uplifting story for anyone who has felt like a fish out of water–which, let’s face it, is most of us.

***Thank you to the publisher for providing me with a copy of the book!***


MG posts since my last IMWAYR:

What I’m currently reading:

Right now I’m reading The Ghosts of Bitterfly Bay by Mary Averling and The Forgotten Magic of Zoey Turner by Erin Stewart. Loving both of these!

I’m listening to Grounded by Aisha Saeed, Huda Al-Marashi, Jamilah Thompkins-Bigelow, and S.K. Ali, a fun airport caper story!


That’s it for now! Have you read either of these? What did you think? I wanna know!

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8 responses to “#IMWAYR: Bite-Sized Reviews of The House at the End of the Sea, Stage Fright, The Skeleton Flute, and Safe Harbor

  1. What a fabulous collection of books! The House at the End of the Sea sounds brilliant! Stage Fright sounds a bit too terrifying for me. Unfortunately, not one of these books is available through my local library system!

  2. “Love these bite-sized reviews! Each one gives just the right amount of insight to pique my interest. *The House at the End of the Sea* and *Safe Harbor* sound especially intriguing—adding them to my reading list. Great recommendations!”

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