The Night Parade by Kathryn Tanquary

She doesn't want to go hang out at Grandmother's house.  Everyone else is home and doing wonderful things in the city.  There is NOTHING to do in the country.  Absolutely NOTHING.  And the internet connection there is impossible, too.

Sourcebooks Jabberwocky and Edelweiss gave me the opportunity to read this book for review (thank you).  It will be published January 5th.

This is like an Asian fairy tale but it's a bigger tale.  There's myth, legend and fantasy woven together here.  The author does a very nice job of making the impossible believable.

Saki is a young girl who has some growing up to do.  She lets folks bully her, believes lies, and doesn't stand up for herself.  At the end of the summer, she will have changed.  At least she will if she wants to stay alive!

There are ugly things, odd things, goblins, spirits and more in the story.  By joining in a game with other local kids, she ends up with a curse on her.  She has called forth the dark forces and the only way to stop them is to participate in the Night Parade and ask for help.  She has a limited amount of time and each evening it gets more dangerous.  I ended up worrying about her because it looked like it would never work.

You'll keep reading to see how it ends and because you'll begin to care about Saki and her problems.  She's basically a good kid and that is what helps her on her quest.  She's also pretty brave.  I don't know if I could handle the Night Parade...