The Witch of Hagstone Hill

Gr 3-7–Ten-year-old Nell Grim finds herself in a series of cascading disasters. Her two triplet sisters, Hannah and Annet, contract typhoid. Her Aunt Lena’s employer demands an exorbitant payment for lost work. Her father is at sea and unavailable. Nell approaches the notorious witch (the beldam) of Hagstone Hill, who agrees to save the triplets, but the bargain turns sour when she bites off Nell’s finger and absconds with Lena as payment. Nell reaches an even deeper level of guilt, and the girls set off to rescue Lena, visiting a peril-filled Goblin Market to acquire useful magical items and relying on the advice of several ghosts, including a young boy and a medieval shield maiden. The final rescue ramps up with a head-to-head battle with the beldam. Illustrations indicate all characters are white. This title is the first in the “Triplets Grim” trilogy and the first middle grade novel by Netherlands horror author van Veen. The third-person limited narration of Nell’s viscerally frightening efforts will keep readers hooked. Imaginative settings increase the fear factor, nicely woven into a presumably historic, fantasy-riddled world. Conversations and adventures all flow smoothly. The triplets’ age (10) and the target audience are not perfectly aligned—horror elements are strongly presented in a manner best suited to unperturbable middle schoolers. Also, the circumstances that trap Nell into her quest seem unrealistically harsh, while her fight and rapid resolution with Lena seem overly facile.