Dead Girls Walking

February 19, 2024
To find her murdered mother’s corpse, teenage Temple Baker goes undercover as a counselor at a queer horror-themed summer camp whose grounds once belonged to her father, the notorious North Point Killer. As she attempts to fit in with her peers, she searches for her mother’s body under cover of nightfall. Then a teen girl is found dead in the wilderness, murdered in the same fashion as the victims of her incarcerated father. The event calls into question everything Temple thought she knew. Was this a copycat crime, or could someone other than her father be the North Point Killer? Striking up an unlikely friendship with true crime–obsessed campers Cali and Yaya, Temple must protect the other girls while uncovering the truth. Though chaotic pacing occasionally muddles narrative focus, Ellis, in a thrilling debut, admirably juggles the novel’s large ensemble cast; Temple’s prickly personality serves as a foil through which the author highlights heartening character relationships, and punchy horror-centric banter adds verve to this gruesome slasher. Characters are intersectionally diverse. Ages 14–up.

February 21, 2024
Grades 9-12 Temple is a monster. As the daughter of one of the most prolific serial killers of all time, she's spent the last three years since her dad's arrest looking out for herself since no one else will. But when he sends her on a wild-goose chase back to the land where she grew up--his hunting grounds--in order to search for her mother's dead body, Temple knows that something even stranger than normal is afoot. Her cover story is being a camp counselor for the Weekend of Horrors, a two-day trip for Black, queer, horror-obsessed teens. She doesn't plan on staying long; she knows no one wants her around. But as unnatural voices begin to echo through the woods and people go missing, Temple must confront her own family history if she wants any chance of leaving her old home alive. Although chaotic and confusing at times, this fresh, if blood-soaked, take on the classic camp slasher story will keep readers mesmerized, half in thrill and half in terror.

COPYRIGHT(2024) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

March 15, 2024
A Virginia high school student awakens relentless evil when she uncovers the truth about her gruesome family legacy. Sixteen-year-old Temple Baker is on a mission. Her father, a convicted serial killer, has admitted to murdering Temple's mother and burying her body on their farmland. Refusing to believe her father's death row confession, Temple decides to revisit the scene of his bloody crime. The only problem? The family homestead is being used as a sleepaway camp for Black LGBTQ+ teens who are interested in horror. Temple, a Black lesbian, swallows her distaste for forced camaraderie and earns a spot as a camp counselor. Shortly after her arrival, someone is found dead in the woods--and the appearance of the first body just marks the beginning of a terrifying weekend. As Temple and her fellow campers fight for their lives, Temple realizes that her father's secrets eclipse even her worst nightmares. Narrated in the third person, Ellis' debut novel combines the ghoulish delight of Sam Raimi's The Evil Dead franchise with the gore of an '80s slasher film. The lore constructed around Temple's violent family history is intriguing and creepy, but anchoring details about her parents' pasts and their psychological motivations would have benefitted from more clarity and nuance. An atmospheric bloodbath that effectively disrupts the expected prototype of the Final Girl. (content warning) (Horror. 14-18)

COPYRIGHT(2024) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

August 23, 2024

Gr 9 Up-Ellis's debut is a fast-paced slasher with a supernatural twist. Sixteen-year-old Temple Baker, daughter of an infamous serial killer, finds herself back on her dad's old hunting grounds to try and find the truth about her mother's disappearance. She poses as a counselor at a camp for Black, LGBTQIA+, horror-loving girls-a cast that provides a refreshing change of pace for the slasher genre-who all attend the school where she was recently suspended. The discovery of a dead staff member marks a turning point of the story from murder mystery to all-out supernatural killing spree, complete with detailed descriptions of mutilated corpses. Temple isn't afraid to get her hands dirty, even as she works through her bloody family baggage and learns to care for her fellow campers, especially transgender hacker and cheerleader Cali, and Yaya, a devoutly Christian lesbian. Unfortunately, the sky-high stakes are muddled by clumsy exposition and plot contrivances. A traumatized Temple lashes out indiscriminately at her fellow camper-peers, straining the credulity of her ever being put in a position of authority over them. The final remaining girls ricochet between locations and survival plans, undercutting the eventual climax, which could have been a resounding moment of friendship and self-love prevailing over familial abuse. VERDICT This book will appeal to slasher readers who believe the more murder the better, but libraries without a strong horror readership are fine to pass.-Lee De Groft

Copyright 2024 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.