Mary Scary

by Andrew Cosby, Troy Nixey

Last year, Dark Horse Books introduced readers to Dreadful Ed - a very normal, very nice human boy who winds up as heir to the throne of the nightmare world called Nocturnia! In this stand-alone sequel to that fantastical story we meet Mary Scary - the weird baby girl who was swapped out for Ed when her parents, the Boogeyman and his wife, needed a male heir for their spooky kingdom! Mary has always been different from the rest of her peers. Maybe it's the spider on her head, maybe it's the snake around her neck... but something about her makes everything about her weird! And just when it really starts to bother her that everyone seems to notice how different she is, she meets someone who might be able to help her be less scary - a very normal boy named Ed.

56 pages, Hardcover

First published May 30, 2007

Reviews

[Esther · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is not an adoption book even though that is part of the plot. What it is, is more of a Halloween book that is rather wierd. Weird, like how the main character Mary is "not much like you and me." (This statement could have the implications that a child who is adopted might consider herself different, weird or "other" because she has been adopted). The plot is basically what if Wednesday Addams had been dropped off at an orphanage as a baby and eventually adopted. Mary is sad that she doesn't fit in and doesn't belong until she meets up with her birth family again. (Why did they place her in the orphanage with a not to begin with? Then later the birth family implies she was lost by accident? Why did they not place Mary's brother for adoption? Do children only fit or belong with their birth families? Do children have to change who they are so their adoptive parents will "keep" them) Then Mary's adoptive family and her birth family it appears become one family living together--"a dysfunctional family, if ever there was but they all made it work, 'cause that's what family does." (I believe the book calls Mary's biological and adoptive families having an open relationship dysfunctional because one set of parents are the Boogieman and his wife but it could have the implications that an open relationship between any adoptive family and the birth family is dysfunctional). Again I do not recommend this book for adoption purposes or for a child who has been adopted. But if you have an interest in the macabre and things that are a little wierd then this book might be for you...the illustrations are quite good. I also, I just found out this is sort of a sequel to another book that gives a little more info/background to the families.

[Mariana Orantes · Rating 4 out of 5]

De verdad no entiendo Goodreads. Las únicas dos reseñas de éste libro parece que no entendieron ni papa, además de que es un libro para niños y la cosa es muy básica. Bueno, en fin, ésta es la secuela de "Dreadful Ed", así que pongámonos en la onda: Dreadful Ed trata sobre Boogeyman y su esposa que un día van a tener otro hijo, Boogeyman quiere un niño pues sólo han tenido niñas y está seguro de que "éste es el bueno". Pero cuando nace el bebé la esposa del Boogeyman se da cuenta de que es ¡una niña! entonces decide darla en adopción y robar a un niño humano para complacer a su marido. El niño crece pero no tiene las características de su padre: no sabe cómo ser "horripilante" y asustar. En Mary Scary se sigue la historia de la niña que fue abandonada. Siempre rara, crece y una familia la adopta. Ella asiste a la escuela y en la escuela las niñas le dicen que ella "no pertenece ahí", por ser tan rara (aguas, su familia adoptiva sí la acepta como es). Ella llora por la noche porque quiere ser "normal" para que no la molesten y para que no molesten a sus papás... en fin, no quiero decir el final, pero a mi me parece que es un libro muy bonito sobretodo porque está en rima infantil y porque habla de la unidad de la familia, lo rara que pueda ser ésta o lo disfuncional que puede llegar a ser.

[Julia · Rating 4 out of 5]

A rhyming picture book for older kids about an unusual girl who doesn't fit in anywhere until she meets her long-lost brother and they teach each other how to fit in/be scary as needed. Wonderful artwork!