A little too violent for my tastes at the beginning. He didn’t get in trouble and that was hard for me.

This was written very young, even for middle grade readers. I guess the good news it that it's accessible to everyone.

David Cray and his mom have just moved into a really creepy old house. They had to leave their old house because dad left and they could no longer afford it. Now they live downtown close to David's new school and his mom's work. David discovers a secret room in the house that had been blocked off. Once he enters the room he seems to be overcome with an energy and writes tons of scary stories. David is also dealing with some anger issues. When one of the school bullies tries to mess with him, David beats him up pretty badly. After that David starts experiencing strange dreams. Then a mysterious Raven shows up at school and starts hurting those that hurt David. David and his new friend Libby must figure out what is going on before someone gets really hurt.

This was a super creepy and a really fast read. I loved the incorporation of Edgar Allan Poe's mysterious death and his stories. It added a bit of authenticity to what may have just been a regular horror story. Even if you are not familiar with Poe's work, as most kids probably aren't, I think they will still appreciate the horror and creepiness of this story. It is a winner.

I received this book from the publisher and Netgalley.

Take one part Edgar Allen Poe, one part haunted house tale, one part new-kid-in-town story and a soupçon of Patrick Ness’ A Monster Calls, and what you get is Ronald Kidd’s totally original middle-grade page-turner. Adults and kids alike will become engrossed in the story of David Cray, a 13-year-old boy who moves to Baltimore with his librarian mother when his father ditches the family for New York and a cutie named Gretchen. David’s new home, a ramshackle Victorian, turns out to have a secret room, a mysterious trunk and very creepy carved raven. David and his classmate Libby Morales team up to solve — well, to reveal what would be to spoil the fun.

Kidd has woven a suspenseful tale with just enough of the supernatural to be spooky rather than corny. He also deals believably with David’s simmering anger — anger at having to leave suburbia and his friends, at his abandonment by a father in full midlife crisis mode, at the bullies at Marshall Middle School. A fabulous story readers won’t want to put down. Highly, highly recommended for all ages.

In the interest of full disclosure, I received this book from NetGalley and Albert Whitman & Company in exchange for an honest review.

Great book for middle grade, it touched on a lot of things that I felt needs to be talked about with your kids.

I must say I was underwhelmed by this book. Though it was a quick read and engaging at first, the whole evil Edgar Allan Poe premise was ridiculous and nonsensical. About 75% of the way through, I couldn't wait for it to be over. I expected better from Robald Kidd--I wouldn't recommend this book to my library's patrons.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the chance to honestly review this e-galley.

REVIEW:

Room of Shadows by Ronald Kidd is a great middle grade read. I would have fallen in love with this as a teen or preteen. The story touches on bullying and anger control in hard times wth many elements of scary - age appropriate horror. The story is great if you are a Poe fan, but even if you aren't you (or your child) can be entertained and excited through out David's journey with the supernatural, ghost, spirit, or whatever it is that seems to be setting him up at school.

Face paced, a bit creepy, mysterious, .... A great middle grade read. I am quite a leap above middle grade and I enjoyed it. I would have loved it when I was in school too. I als have to say that I love the cover art.

Highly recommend.

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To start off, I have not read much middle grade recently and this is one of the first middle grade novels I have picked ip in awhile. I always enjoy the easy flow of middle grade books and they are normally pretty fun, quick reads. What I enjoyed about this one, is i feel like there was an underlying message to all middle grade readers and that they could all relate, in some way, to David, our main character.
In this novel, we follow David and his mom as they move to a new house in Baltimore right after his mom and dad become separated. David is forced into new situations, a new house, a new school and some not-so-nice new classmates. As a middle school student, David starts to struggle a lot with his Anger and controlling his emotions, which I think a lot of middle grad students could relate to. I know, when I was younger, I really had a hard time with my anger as well.
David makes a new friend, Libby and she is about the only person in the school who is not afraid of David or thinks that he is weird. Libby is a quirky character herself and I really enjoyed her in this book. After David gets in a fight and school, he discovers an old room in his house that has some mysteries to it. I really enjoyed this aspect of the book and the bringing in of some Historical Fiction as well.
Once David finds this room, some strange things start to happen that he cannot explain and everything seems to be pointing back at him. Now David has to figure out what is going on while keeping his name clean.
Besides the aspect of Historical Fiction in this novel, I really enjoyed the setting and scenes that were in here, I found myself actually getting a little frightened while reading this, especially during David's dreams. Also, David and Libby;s relationship was adorable and I loved their friendship.
I so have a few complaints for the book as well. My main complaint is that the dialog is kind of all over the place and difficult to follow at times. Also, some of the scenes in this were very graphic and I think maybe a little to violent for middle grade readers.
Other than those two main complaints, I really did enjoy reading this and I flew through it!

Here is a review by Gigi: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1958395108

Room of Shadows was an entertaining middle-grade read with a unique premise. Almost everyone knows of Edgar Allen Poe’s works, and many know that his end was both abrupt and mysterious. It was a fittingly foggy end to a writer whose works continue to capture the imagination. Room of Shadows takes what we know of Poe’s death and then speculates a suitably horrific ending to it all.

The main character in Room of Shadows is a young boy in a familiar situation. David has come from a recently broken home where things seemed to have changed overnight. He’s been forced to move when his now one-income family could no longer stay in their house. Worst of all, there’s no one to really help him deal with everything. It’s a situation that is rife for anger, misunderstandings, and cries for help. And that’s exactly what we think we’re seeing in the beginning.

But even though this is a ‘kids book’, Ronald Kidd doesn’t try to baby the reader. He weaves in enough mystery to even keep adult readers on their toes. The situations he describes that David witnesses are scary to think about (which really surprised me). And I think a lot of readers will be able to identify with at least the realistic parts of David’s situation. And David’s companion is a plucky girl named Libby who insists on being there with him to help when she can. For David to have someone that actually believes him/believes in him is probably one of the greatest gifts he’s given in this novel.

Overall, Room of Shadows has a lot going for it. It’s a well-written, imaginative tale that will thrill kiddos new to this type of story. It ended up surprising me a little bit because I thought it was going to resolve in an entirely different way. Room of Shadows is a good beginning horror/thriller for younger readers.