I didn’t realize this was a middle grade book going in, but I was curious enough after the first chapter that I kept going. I’ll admit, it’s not an entirely unique premise but it gave Goosebumps nostalgia.
The clay mannequin begins as something very spooky, but ultimately wins the reader over as Morel becomes his own person and proves to be a friend. The concept of this being starting with no real facial features (only a concept of eye sockets and mouth) was very creepy and well done.
There’s some interesting themes with “fitting in,” dealing with the pandemic, and stress causing facial tics - all that come into play as our main character, Casey, learns to see where his value lies. He’s not just any boy, he’s Casey.

Wow! This book was creepy and such a fun read. I honestly couldn’t put it down because I HAD to know what was going to happen. As an adult, I loved this so much. Middle school me would’ve been obsessed with this book as I was such a horror fan! Still am to this day of course!

The concept was unique and executed so well. Paul is a phenomenal writer, so I wasn’t shocked at how intrigued I was by this book. I enjoyed every last bit of it. I was engaged until the very end and even had chills at some points.

This is a fantastic introduction to horror for middle grade kids. This book will definitely ignite the thrill of reading horror for so many of them.

Thank you to HarperCollins Children's Books | Quill Tree Books and NetGalley for the early copy!

Thank you to the author, publisher and Net Galley for providing a free ARC of this title in exchange for my review.

Why are all the great middle grade and teen books being written NOW? Where were they when I was that age?!! I"m so jealous of kids now, they have so many great options. Sigh ...

This is a fun and creepy book for middle graders. This was chilling, gripping and so hard to put down. Wonderful characters and unusual friendships. I think just about anyone of any age would enjoy this book.

4 stars. Recommend to all!

After a Zoom meeting gone wrong, Casey has definitely become the outcast of his friend group. He is beyond confused when his parents tell him that a friend is coming over to spend the night. This new friend, who Casey hasn't met before, soon charms his parents and starts to take their attention away from Casey. Is this new friend trying to take Casey's life away from him?

As a middle school librarian, I can tell you that kids will read scary stories and I can't wait to add this one to our collection. The creepy factor is off the charts and will have the readers hooked from the first chapter.

Thank you to NetGalley along with HarperCollins Children's Books-Quill Tree Books for providing me with an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I always enjoy Paul tremblay’s books. He’s an auto buy author. I was a little nervous that the horror would slip through the cracks or not remain as intense because of the audience intended but I was pleasantly surprised. It’s haunting. The story draws on childhood fears perfectly. So much so, that it’s reminiscent of the goosebumps franchise.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC! Creepy read for middle grade readers! I honestly didn’t realize it was for middle grades when I requested it, but was nonetheless captivated. Another win for Paul!

Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins Children's Books | Quill Tree Books for the digital advance reader copy.

Since I read Tremblay's Head Full of Ghosts, I've been a fan and have read what's he's published since then, except his short stories. I enjoy his weird, out-there horror that often plays with our fear of the strange, uncanny, and awful that exists in opposition to our humanity.

I wasn't sure how his writing would work for a middle grade audience, since he often creates a world of ambiguity and existential dread that I wasn't sure ten-to-thirteen year-olds would understand.

I was wrong. As I read this, I began to remember that middle schoolers have existential dread, too. He does (mostly) avoid the ambiguity of his adult novels, though.

Casey is a struggling mid-pandemic sixth-grader. Due to an incident, he's feeling incredibly alone. He's not sure his friends are even still his friends. His older sister has left for college. Even his parents seem more worried and frustrated with him than they did. He's not sure they even like him now.

Then his mom brings home an old rotary phone from an antique store, and his parents oddly agree to allow an unknown friend to stay at their house during Spring Break.

Casey himself doesn't even know this friend, and yet here he is.

Slowly, during the week, Casey finds himself changing, and finds his new-found friend changing, too.

This is a weird, creepy story about figuring out who you are and who really cares about you - flaws and talents and fears and goofiness and all.

Tremblay does a great job exploring what it means to experience the anxiety and fear of wondering if anyone really likes you - do you even like you? What if you just weren't you one day? Would others like you better? Would anyone notice?

Plus, as a parent, I appreciated his look at Casey's family. Sometimes we're so worried about our kids, we forget to just love and support them. I loved that Casey's family wasn't perfect, but they were always trying to figure out how better to love one another, even when they didn't get it right.

All in all, two thumbs up for a truly creepy story about really seeing others.

What makes us, us? That's just what this young 6th grade boy attempts to tackle alone. Dealing with anxiety tics, Casey is confronted with a mysterious new friend that his parents just accept in their home without even knowing who "it" is. Struggling with his flaws, he begins to notice his parents like his new friend a little too much.

This thoroughly creepy middle grade is an awesome read for any age group. I've enjoyed it so much that I want to teach this novel as a full class read in my middle school English class.

Another is a creepy middle-grade horror story. The story is also intriguing that you won't want to put down once you start reading it. I liked the introduction of the old rotary phone. It adds to the mystique of the story. It's interesting how the main character reacts to his new "friend" and how he has to solve the mystery of it. Fans of Gooosebumps will definitely like this story.

Another by Paul Tremblay is a wonderfully eerie middle-grade debut with just the right amount of creep. This unsettling tale follows Casey, a socially isolated boy still dealing with the fallout of a mysterious “Zoom Incident,” who finds himself reluctantly hosting a bizarre sleepover guest named Morel. Morel isn’t like any other kid—his silence, clay-like skin, and strange influence over Casey’s parents slowly turn an already tense atmosphere into something deeply sinister.

Tremblay masterfully blends psychological unease with classic horror elements, building tension in a way that will make younger readers squirm and older ones genuinely unsettled. The shifting family dynamics and Casey’s growing paranoia are where the story shines.

Though written for a middle-grade audience, Another doesn’t hold back on atmosphere or depth. If you’re looking for a haunting, surreal, and smartly written read with shades of Coraline and The Twilight Zone, this one’s worth checking out.

Ah, the rotary phone. A thing of the past, a real relic — and in this book, a real itroubkemaker. Casey is struggling with post-pandemic life and some social isolation. Then an unexpected friend visits….but perhaps Morel is not quite as friendly as Casey might have hoped?
This was truly scary and a real win in the middle grade horror genre. I loved it!! Highly recommend to brave kiddos everywhere.
The relationships felt believable and I loved that Casey and Morel were not completely at odds with each other. The true villain is— well, quite bone-chilling.
Prepare yourself! You will be creeped out.

Things I liked:
The pacing of this book is great. It gets the ball rolling and doesn't stop. This works especially well for a middle grade novel since you don't need a large amount of exposition.
I can see this being scary for a kid. While I am reading this as a horror connoisseur, I started out my love with reading Goosebumps and I see this fitting in well with that type of horror. Definitely not scary reading it as an adult but that's okay!
Some great characters. I especially loved the older sister and thought she was a great addition to the story.

Things I disliked:
I am curious how many kids are going to read this and have to ask their parents what a landline phone even is/looks like. I get the importance of it to the book but still.
I personally felt the book should have ended without that last chapter. It felt unnecessary to know that (spoiler) Morel/Link was still out there searching for the man and stopping him from spreading whatever was going on.

This is very strange and intriguing story about Casey Wilson, one you will want to keep reading just one more chapter and then just one more, then…………

Twelve year old Casey is having some difficulties fitting in at school due to his own personal issues that have incited teasing, if not bullying. So when his parents tell him a friend is coming for a sleepover, he knows he hasn’t had friends since the embarrassing “Zoom Incident,” and is confused and skeptical about this “friend.” Since the “Zoom Incident” his tics have gotten worse so naturally he is quite nervous about meeting a newbie. When Morel shows up, he’s nothing like any friend Casey’s ever known: he doesn’t talk, his skin looks unnatural, his eyes are not human and the most frightening part is that Casey’s parents are completely unaware of Morel’s supernaturalism. Night after night passes and and Morel doesn’t leave! Weirdly Morel is changing, he now talks, his skin looks more like, well human skin, but Casey is changing too and not for the better! His parents now focus their attention on Morel, Causing Casey to feel more isolated than ever.
The saving factor is his older sister Ally, who is away at college and as an outside observer notices what’s happening and is Casey’s only link to sanity.


Paul Tremblay’s Another is an unsettling, disturbing middle grade horror story that will stick with your pondering brain long after you finish it. Even though it’s written for a younger audience, it never talks down to the reader. Middle school readers especially boys will enjoy the weirdness and psychological tension. The talent in Tremblay’s writing is the slow-building sense that something is off, and that uneasy feeling becomes more tense as the story progresses.

 Readers will like and can identify with Casey, the protagonist. He’s brave, relatable, and his experiences of isolation and trying to find his place in the world was true to human existence. His openness to befriend this odd kid Morel is strange and haunting, and the pandemic backdrop added an extra layer of isolation that felt very true to what we all recently experienced.

My only complaint is this reader felt a bit bogged down with the descriptions of the activity of the spores, the glowing roots and hyphae that plagued Casey’s dreams, but other readers may enjoy this fantastical dream. 


I hope Another is the first installment of a new well needed horror series for middle grade readers.

I really loved how unsettling and creepy this book was bc I think kids need actual creepy horror stories too! I had fun with this story although I felt it rambled a bit and it made me lose focus of the story. But I still enjoyed it

Thank you to NetGalley and HarperStacks for an ARC of this novel. I did not realize this was a YA book going into it, but I don't think it necessarily reads as YA. The story is creepy, but it isn't too creepy for the young crowd. However, it was entertaining. I was able to figure out what was going on pretty quickly, but I liked the integration of fungus being part of the story with the popularity of things like The Last of Us. Paul did a great job of capturing the emotions of our main character and making the parents off. If I had realized that it was YA, I probably would have been more receptive to it. I was bored for a good bit of the time, but I can understand that since I wasn't the target audience. I teach younger students, and I do think this would be popular with the right group. If I could give partial stars, I'd rate this a 2.5.

I'm a big fan of Paul Tremblay and I knew I had to read this, even if it is labeled as middle grade. Casey is our main character and he's been having a tough time in school. An embarrassing incident has caused all his friends and classmates to shun him. Then, a mysterious man shows up with a friend for Casey, in the loose form of a boy his age. Saying anything more than an ominous the boy isn't all he appears to be would give away too much! I'd recommend if you're a fan and to the intended audience that likes a good creepy book.

I wish I could send this back to my middle school self. Tremblay has been a favorite of mine for a while, and he adapts to middle grade fiction perfectly. The story is smoothly written and gripping, creepy yet reassuring in a way. He hones in on some of the base fears one feels throughout adolescence: loss of identity, isolation, shame, embarrassment, you name it. Casey's development throughout the story is executed well, and Morel's arc is cutting and sympathetic.

Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins for an e-arc in exchange for an honest review. If I was twelve, this would without a doubt be my favorite book of all time. I was not a child during the height of the pandemic, but this book made me really understand the small, day-to-day things children must have been going through during that time and the worries of a child with some anxieties. Casey is the beating heart of this story, and I just want to pick him up and squeeze him into a tight hug and never let him go. It was a perfectly paced, small novel that I never wanted to put down. And I can't forget to mention how disturbing it is. Tremblay mastered the idea that children can accept things that will break the minds of adults, and he utilized that idea masterfully. If Morel showed up at my door today, my initial instinct would be to destroy him, but as a child who is still learning about the ways of the world, Morel is just another thing Casey accepted. It is a terrifying novel without being brutal in the slightest. It is a subtle dread that builds from the moment Morel walks in the door, and the reader identifies that there is something different about him. And Tremblay also makes you feel for Morel and his situation, especially as the novel goes on. Middle grade is not an age range I read frequently, but every time I do I am reminded that the stories of this age range can have a profound impact on not only children, but adults too. This is a fantastic read, especially if your child shows any interest in strange stories, or it is something great to read around spooky season.

As a Goosebumps and Fear Street enthusiast, I felt right at home reading this book.

It was creepy, and just scary enough for the Middle Reader /YA. I mean I knew what was going to happen, but I Still gobbled this book up like it was the last piece of cake.

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is an engaging novel, the character development stands out as its strongest element. I particularly enjoyed the well-crafted character Morel. The mystery that is woven within the plot really works well to propel the story forward. I would recommend this book for those that ;like a subtle mystery.