Eighth graders and best friends Val (who is on the spectrum) and Lanie (who is trans) live in Bolingbroke, which has a supernatural history that a teacher lets them research for a project...but they open up a real can of worms, to put it mildly. They accidentally summon the Ojja-Wojja, and suddenly the whole town seems to be dominated by the worst part of their classmate Andrea's personality. (Andrea, we learn in a brief peek into her life, used to wear a spinal brace and is refusing to wear it again because she was teased.) Val and Lanie and a few of their friends realize that they are the only ones who can save the town, and they proceed to do so.

See also: Shakti ( )

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review!

I am absolutely in love with this story! Our two leads are Val, an autistic girl, and Lanie, a transgender girl. Val gets assigned to do a report for their history teacher on the town's supernatural past, and it ends up leading them to the Ojja-Wojja. During their hunt for the Ojja-Wojja, they end up summoning it and almost doom the entire town to being eternally brainwashed. I love this story, and the characters are written so well! Val being autistic isn't made out to be a joke or something that is merely stated but not shown in her actions. Her autism is intertwined with who she is as a person and it shows how it affects how she views and processes the world around her. I also like that the school bully isn't some one-dimensional straw doll of a character, but is shown to be a person with her own struggles. The story is well done, and at times, very frightening! It does not shy away from the fact that it is a HORROR story. Whilst reading, I turned the page to reveal a terrifying full-page illustration and felt like I had just been jump-scared by the book. It freaked me out, and I'm the kind of person who watches horror games on the regular! The art style is also to die for. I love how the characters are drawn, and the use of color, and sometimes lack of it, really entranced me. Also, I'm very impressed with how they explained magic and rituals! When Lanie talks about certain famous spellbooks and how to protect oneself during rituals, everything she said was one hundred percent correct. It's so nice to see someone did their research when it comes to real-life historical magical practices. The ending of this volume was so good as well, I love it! I don't want to say too much because I don't want to spoil it. I also like how with the last page, they made it so that this can either be a stand-alone book or easily continue into a series. I hope it does continue because I like it so much!

Honestly, I feel like if you like the vibes of Stranger Things, The Craft, or Over the Garden Wall, you'll like The Ojja-Wojja! ( )