THE DREADFUL TALE OF PROSPER REDDING, by Alexandra Bracken

The story: A broken deal with a demon has kept the Redding family rich and powerful for centuries. But now the demon is regaining his power, and the demon has taken up residence inside 13-year-old Prosper Redding, planning a breakout on the boy's 13th birthday. It's up to Prosper and a group of people who may or may not really be trying to help him to figure out a way to keep Alastor out of the picture for another 400 years. Otherwise--the whole family's going down in flames.

June Cleaver's ratings: Language PG; Violence PG; Sexual content G; Nudity G; Substance abuse G; Magic & the occult PG-13; GLBt content PG; Adult themes (possession by a demon, scary scenes) PG-13; overall rating PG.

Liz's comments: Despite my discomfort with the idea of kids being possessed by demons, I liked this one a lot. Prosper's dry comments about his family and heritage are often LOL, and his teen-aged voice describing whatever's happening keeps things from devolving into Nightmare on Elm Street kind of scary. Full disclosure: it's a cliff hanger from the get-go, so you're signing up for at least one more volume. Kids who like Jonathan Stroud's "Lockwood & Company" series will enjoy this one too.