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Extra Normal by Kate Alice Marshall - 9/10

Updated: Apr 13, 2025

Charlie, the normal daughter of a pair of supernatural investigators and adopted sister to several displaced paranormal children, must discover what is off about the new neighbors in order to protect her family.


When the Greer's parents head off on a long-overdue vacation just before a new family moves in next door, oldest daughter Charlie must shoulder the responsibility of figuring out why she is the only one who notices that the new neighbors are not as nice and normal as they seem. Working with her magical siblings and an unexpected new ally, Charlie must overcome her own insecurity and discover how being ordinary can be a blessing in disguise.


This book is spooky, but (I think) appropriately so for a younger audience (I certainly have a very low tolerance, and it didn't upset me) - and is full of humor and heartwarming depictions of sibling dynamics. It also competently treats the moral question of what makes a person good or bad and has an ingenious in-world defense to its participation in the genre-wide tendency of child-protagonists not turning to adults for help.


*As is perhaps hinted by the cover design, there are a lot of spiders and spider-like creatures in this book - I know that is a common phobia, so you ought to be aware before starting.

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