Children deal with living in a haunted house. When I was a kid, this was an unbearably spooky book.

This one’s not so great

Amanda was so insufferably annoying and bratty good LORD. Anyways this story follows a family of divorce that comes together through a marriage with a unique little girl named Amanda who’s a very unhappy child of divorce and is infatuated with the supernatural. Amanda has her new siblings go through different tests and what not to bring them apart of this supernatural relationship?.. anyways the Stanley kids were genuinely really fun to read about. David is such a GOOD big brother and the twins and Janie are just the most adventurous and fun kids who all get along and love to play games with their siblings

This is a Lemony Snicket-recommended book. I overheard him and his neighbor discussing it in Poison for Breakfast. After I figured out its title and author, I became even more interested because I’d loved The Velvet Room as a child.

This book, too, is one I would’ve read and enjoyed as an adolescent, and I’m not positive I hadn’t, as its resolution seemed vaguely familiar. In that time period (early 70's) I read so many books from the library, I can’t remember them all. Master Snicket says this book was recommended to him by a “so trustworthy and so interesting” librarian, which also describes the way some readers feel about some writers.

Not quite 5 stars because of the ending. I have so many questions.

But if you’re looking for a quick read about the supernatural, magic, and poltergeists, this is the book for you.

This is probably the book that made me want to be a witch when I was ten

The Stanley children don't know it yet, but they live in a haunted house.

A local handyman warns the kids that his own father was the person who carved the wooden cupid banisters, including the one with the missing head - which was chopped off by the ghost! With the help of their new stepsister Amanda who is practicing the occult, the Stanley kids hurry to find an answer to the strange things that happening around them.

Very interesting read. Zilpha Keatley Snyder was one of my favorite authors as a kid, and I was glad to find this in a Little Free Library. I read for nostalgia, and to remind myself what children's books used to be like.

Weird, that's what. This book came out in 1971, when supernatural stuff really was kind of real. There's some pseudo-spiritualist hippie stuff in this book, almost like the author was trying to tell kids how to practice witchcraft. It's a fun way to remember how kids used to talk to each other and get into trouble. There isn't a whole lot of suspense. It's mainly these kids doing kooky stuff, but this is a good enough ghost story.

I am not sure why this book won a Newberry, it is a good book, but not sure it is at the caliber of award winning. I may have to look at the qualifications for that particular award. I did enjoy the book, and the story. Amanda is an interesting character, but really, my true love of this book is Blair. What an interesting character, and I may seek out more of the Stanley Family books just for more about him.

update 01/04/2020: This book won a Newberry Honor (basically a runner-up) in 1972. The award is given out by a selected group of children's librarians for books that challenge the norm for children's books. And it was the first award FOR children's literature. So, yes, it makes sense, this book was a bit different than most in 1972, and it has been challenged (oh the "witchcraft"!!).

I think I always meant to read Zilpha Keatley Snyder when I was younger and never got around to it. I picked up a couple of books second-hand a few years ago. She has quite a remarkable ability to write about troubled children who, frankly, kind of act like dicks, but in a way that is kind and sympathetic as well as gently humorous. This was a really lovely story. I'm looking forward to reading more in this series.

*SIGH* How disappointing.

I've seen this novel all over thrift store shelves and finally decided to give it a go because of how much I enjoyed Snyder's The Egypt Game. However, this book seems like a lot of unnecessary build-up that steers quite out of the way from what the title suggests, only to discard most of that in the end for some quick and sudden character development and--oh, yeah!--that headless cupid, remember??

The novel suddenly ties up all loose ends in the last two chapters with a small cliffhanger that hints to elements that evidently appear in the rest of the books in the Stanley Family series. The mysteries are mostly solved, the cupid gets his head back, and the Stanleys are one big, happy blended family. It all comes together well enough for an audience of children; but reading as an adult left me wanting more drama. At least in The Egypt Game there is a real child murder on the loose instead of a rock-throwing poltergeist that turns out not to exist at all.

This is yet another Newbery list book that glorifies the occult. I'm a Christian and think this is not a good book for Christians to give to their children. I'm going to tell you in only a few words exactly what's in this book but this is totally a spoiler so it is your choice if you want to know the plot before you read it yourself.

The book is about the four Stanley children and their new older step-sister, Amanda. Amanda comes to live with them and is dressed in a witchcraft costume she's fashioned for herself. She's obviously angry at her mother and hates her new step-father as well. She starts teaching the four younger children how to become witches and leads them through various ordeals leading up to an initiation ceremony. By this time we're midway through the book. Then there's a seance involving all five children. After that Amanda learns that in the distant past it was rumored there was a poltergeist in the house, which is about one hundred years old. Before long poltergeist type things start happening in the house once again. Although there's a satisfying ending to the book, the specter of the supernatural arises once again on the last pages.

The Headless Cupid is fiction but also is like a manual for learning about the occult including witchcraft, seances, hauntings and poltergeist activity. Is this what we want to fill our children's minds with?

This book is a Newbery Honor book from 1972, so it has been recommended to many children over the years and received a lot of attention. The writing is good enough. The child characters are well-developed and interesting. If I were judging this book on style and readability I'd give it four stars. However, since I'm a Christian I'm thinking about the content which should be alarming to any Christian who actually reads the Bible, including this passage from Deuteronomy 18:

"10 There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire, or one who practices witchcraft, or a soothsayer, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, 11 or one who conjures spells, or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead. 12 For all who do these things are an abomination to the Lord, and because of these abominations the Lord your God drives them out from before you. 13 You shall be blameless before the Lord your God. 14 For these nations which you will dispossess listened to soothsayers and diviners; but as for you, the Lord your God has not appointed such for you.” - Deuteronomy 18:10-14

For years now I've been wanting to read all the books on the Newbery list, both medal winners and honor books. Maybe the reason I'm led to do this is to discover the ungodly books the Newbery committee is glorifying, promoting, and recommending to children. Obviously our society has developed many more problems since the 1970's and Satan is hard at work infiltrating the thoughts and lives of our children. I think this book is a small part of the ongoing tragedy.