Da named it "Courage", saying that all good tools deserved a good title. Kip had always liked the idea that courage was a thing a person could hold onto and use. I discovered about a quarter into this book that I should have saved it for Halloween. If I had to describe it's vibe in a word it would be unsettling . For most of the book there's nothing truly scary, but it's just... off. But that, in my opinion, is a compliment to the author. I was so immersed in this story and these characters that I couldn't pull myself away, no matter how freaked out I was. I figured out certain plot points about 70% in and, my sister can attest to this, I shivered from the chill that ran down my spine. It was perfection. As a middle grade book, it is outstanding. It does require a strong reader though, one that is ready to move past stories whose characters are either heroes or villains, and start to understand and appreciate motivations and increased complexity. Hester, for example, brought tears to my eyes, although I’m not sure she would have the same effect on a child.

A word of caution: for an adult, the level of creepiness is quite mild, but for a 9 to 12 year old, it’s clearly Gothic horror. Tempered by humour here and there, but horror nonetheless. Not gratuitous though, as there is a moral to the story, foreshadowed by the opening quotations. The first one is from John Milton’s Paradise Lost, and the other one - my favourite - from Aesop: “We would often be sorry if our wishes were granted.”For a time, the book this most reminded me of was M.P. Kozlowsky’s little known Juniper Berry, a title that could rival this one in terms of creepiness. Both books involve trees and wishes and souls tied into unlawful bargains with dark sources. There the similarities end, though. Auxier has crafted with undeniable care a book that dares to ask whether or not the things we wish for are the things best for us in the end. His storytelling works in large part too because he gives us a unique situation. Here we have two characters that are desperately trying to stay in an awful, dangerous situation by any means necessary. You sympathize with Molly’s dilemma at the start, but even though you’re fairly certain there’s something awful lurking beneath the surface of the manor, you find yourself rooting for her, really hoping that she gets the job of working there. It’s a strange sensation, this dual hope to both save the heroine and plunge her into deeper danger. The Night Gardener tells us of two orphaned Irish siblings Molly and Kip who are forced to work as servants in an eerie English manor. The owners of the manor seem very mysterious, but they soon realise that the family of four isn't the creepiest thing in the house. Wait till they meet..... The Night Gardener! **Insert Evil Laugh here!** It was like I could feel it Molls, right behind me. I turned around, and there, in the fog… for half a heartbeat, I thought I saw someone there, watchin’ me.” Truth be told, with Terry and Eric Fan’s The Night Gardener I have actually (and pretty rarely for me at that) both enjoyed the accompanying illustrations considerably more than the presented narrative and in fact have also found the Fan brothers printed words not really even remotely on par with their glowing and delightfully evocative illustrations. In other words, reading the featured text of The Night Gardener with its basic simplicity and indeed rather unimaginative and blah standard ending, at least to and for me, this seems to kind of pull down the pictures a trifle, it seems to distract from illustrations that with their lushness and attention to detail really do totally shine, but which glow is then if not extinguished at least dimmed and lessened somewhat by an accompanying narrative that I for one have found both more than a bit monotonous in scope and also much too alike and akin to other picture books featuring “special” gardeners.

And add to that the characters (ahhhhh, the characters)! Molly and Tip are one of my new favorite sibling sets in books. They love each other so much that they're willing to sacrifice everything for the other. In most of the situations, what keeps Molly going is thinking about Tip and vice versa for him. And each member of the Windsor family is so fleshed out and explored, and their downward spiral is fascinating to watch and so well written. It was pretty brilliant of Auxier to place the story within the Victorian era. As he points out in his afterword, it "was perhaps the last point in Western history when magic and science were allowed to coexist." This idea is executed through the character of a local doctor, who witnesses Constance Windsor's declining health, but is resistant to the idea of the supernatural.This was something remarkable. I went into it not knowing what to expect and I came out with a new favorite. Those are by far the best books to read. I also want to mention the awesome storytelling aspect of this book. As readers, I imagine most of those who read this book will appreciate the emphasis on how magical stories can be, how important they are. I loved how it was such a big part of the book and Molly’s character. The manor’s Son and Daughter are oblivious and affected slightly. The husband, who fled the place as a child when his parents disappeared, desperately seeks business in town, with unsavoury associates. Spending nights away clearly helps. It is the wife whose health is being leeched by.... something. A secret she harbours indicates that she is permitting the toxicity, with whatever self-awareness she has left, to sustain that secret.

You asked me for a story; now you call it a lie. … So tell me, then: What marks the difference between the two?” Lots of creepiness, memorable characters, a worthy message, Auxier’s atmospheric drawings and touches of humor amid the horror make this cautionary tale one readers will not soon forget." If you aren't afraid of a good spine-tingling mystery featuring stories and lies and hurdy-gurdies and hills and glowing midnight flowers, this is a book for you.

Storytelling and the secret desires of the heart wind together in this atmospheric novel that doubles as a ghost tale."

The branch was dark and smooth and slightly curved. It wasn’t a branch at all— It was the handle of an axe.” Molly & Kip: these two are wonderful protagonists for young readers to read about. They have depth and discover things about themselves though the story. There are some great messages in what these kids go through. This book reads like a dark folktale or fairytale. It feels like a story I could have grown up with, something straight out of the Brothers Grimm, but coupled with just fantastic storytelling.The book falls in the horror-fantasy genre, and probably is the same level of spooky as Neil Gaiman's Coraline. As the title warns you in advance, you know there will be someone/something called a Night Gardener in the story. But when the story brings him up, you cant help being chilled and thrilled simultaneously. The action moves pretty fast and though there are a few medium-paced scenes interspersed in the story, they don't drive you away but keep you hooked. The story evolves around what they discover about the new home and the man that wanders the grounds at night—often chilling and spooky. He develops it by starting with the mundane and carefully adding the ghostly elements. The Windsors: they could so easily have just been “the awful family Kip and Molly have to serve”, but they were given complexity and were some of the strongest characters in the story. Written beautifully, nicely paced, and pollinated by a rich group of believable characters—well done!