Review — Spirits Dark and Light

By Hazel Rochman
Booklist Vol. 103 No. 5 — 11/1/2006

Maybe it looks like a pile of leaves lying on the ground. Better not step on it; it might have fangs.” Choctaw storyteller Tingle tells 25 deliciously scary tales collected from the five major Native American tribes of the southeastern U.S.––the Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek, and Seminole. The stories tell of frightful shape-shifting spirits, witches, slithering snakes, and owls as messengers and bringers of death. There are tales about healers, too, as well as stories of love and grief, but the monsters steal the show, as in the Seminole story “Hungry for Meat,” in which disturbing a gravesite awakens the dead. For each tribe, Tingle begins with background on history, culture, and folklore. The language is clear and informal, and the dialogue is immediate. Give this to readers who enjoyed Joan Aiken’s A Fit of Shivers: Tales for Late at Night (1992) and Vivian Vande Velde’s All Hallows Eve (2006). This will be great for sharing, especially at Halloween.

Title Details: Spirits Dark and Light
Author: Tim Tingle
Interest Level: GR 5-8

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