The Night Gardener

Starred review from March 1, 2014
Replete with engaging figurative language and literary allusions to works ranging from the Bible to Paradise Lost, Auxier's creepy Victorian ghost story is an allegory on greed and the power of stories. Fourteen-year-old Molly and her younger brother, Kip, orphans fleeing the Irish famine, seek work in England. The destitute siblings become servants at the Windsor estate, at the center of which is a decrepit house entwined with a huge and sinister tree. Although warned that this place contains something ominous that changes people, they are unprepared for the evil they encounter. The master, mistress and their two children grow pale and thin; their eyes and hair blacken. Entering the forbidden room at the top of the stairs, Molly finds a knothole in the tree--a knothole that produces whatever one wishes for (money, jewels, sweets). The price is a piece of the petitioner's soul. Muddy footprints and dead leaves in the house attest to an evil nocturnal visitor, the titular Night Gardener, who wipes the sweat of fear from their nightmare-ridden brows to water the tree. In a heart-stopping climax, Molly and Kip attempt to stop this specter and the ancient curse. Lots of creepiness, memorable characters, a worthy message, Arrasmith's atmospheric drawings and touches of humor amid the horror make this cautionary tale one readers will not soon forget. (Fantasy. 10-14)

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Starred review from April 1, 2014

Gr 4-6-Storytelling and the secret desires of the heart wind together in this atmospheric novel that doubles as a ghost tale. Irish immigrants to England, Molly and Kip make their way to the Windsor house in search of employment. The great house stands in the shadow of a menacing tree, which locals speak of only in fearful whispers. Despite her young age and the warnings of a local storyteller, Molly uses the power of her own words to secure work, but soon realizes that all is not right in the house. Constance, Bertrand, Penny, and Alistair Windsor each struggle with personal demons, and strange footprints appear at night. A malevolent spirit, the Night Gardener, haunts the estate, dooming its inhabitants with foul dreams while the tree grants wishes to entrap the recipients. Molly and Kip must face their own dark secrets to release the Gardener's hold and end his evil enchantments. Auxier gives readers a spooky story with depth and dimension. Molly's whimsical tales illustrate life's essential lessons even as they entertain. As the characters face the unhealthy pull of the tree's allurements, they grow and change, revealing unexpected personality traits. Storytelling as a force to cope with life's challenges is subtly expressed and adds complexity to the fast-paced plot. Readers of Mary Downing Hahn or Peg Kehret's ghost novels will connect with the supernatural elements and the independent child protagonists of Auxier's tale of things that go bump in the night.-Caitlin Augusta, Stratford Library Association, CT

Copyright 2014 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

June 1, 2014
Grades 6-9 Auxier's second novel is part morality play, part ghost story, and all enthralling. Molly and Kip are Irish orphans seeking employment in England after their parents die in a shipwreck. Brave, quick-thinking Molly is solicitous of her younger disabled brother, and she feels guilty because she has managed to hide the truth about their parents' death from him, spinning yarns about their travels and promising they will all be together soon. Molly finds them work as servants in a distinctly creepy, isolated country manor where a huge tree growing into the house is casting a spell over the inhabitants, among other mysterious goings-on. Auxier, like Molly, is a born storyteller, and he weaves a tale that will keep readers glued to the page. The outcomes may be expected, but the journeys are riveting, while the predictability conjures the comfort and satisfaction of a classic fairy tale.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)

July 1, 2014
During the Irish Potato Famine, siblings Molly and Kip land in England at the once-proud Windsor family's stately but decrepit mansion, which appears to exert a malevolent force on its inhabitants. Auxier delivers a spooky, menacing atmosphere; mystery; and suspense. While the book partakes of familiar tropes and themes, there's enough of a fresh spin on them that readers should be captivated.

(Copyright 2014 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

May 1, 2014
"Riding atop the [cart's] bench were two children, a girl and a boy, both with striking red hair. The girl was named Molly, and the boy, her brother, was Kip. And they were riding to their deaths." Or so it seems. The siblings have landed in England during the midst of the Irish Potato Famine. Waiting for their parents to rejoin them, they have found work at the once-proud Windsor family's stately but decrepit mansion in the countryside. The house appears to exert a malevolent force on its inhabitants, and the children gradually become aware of this evil and its increasing danger, most especially the Night Gardener, who saps the living of their life force to feed the wish-granting tree. All proper scary stories require a spooky, menacing atmosphere, and Auxier (Peter Nimble and His Fantastic Eyes) delivers the goods with his precise descriptions of the gothic setting and teasing hints of mystery and suspense. While the book partakes of many familiar tropes and themes -- orphans and their cruel taskmasters, bullies transformed by kindness, the slippery slope of greed and wantonness, the power of storytelling -- there's enough of a fresh spin on them that readers should be captivated. jonathan hunt

(Copyright 2014 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)