Raising the Horseman

From the New York Times best-selling author of Disney’s Villains series comes a ghostly stand-alone novel that reimagines The Legend of Sleepy Hollow through the eyes of a modern teen. Kat Van Tassel wants nothing to do with Sleepy Hollow’s ghostly history. But when her mother gives her the original Katrina van Tassel’s diary on the two-hundredth anniversary of the Headless Horseman’s haunting, a new legend begins to take shape, weaving together the past and the present in eerie ways. When a new girl in town opens Kat’s eyes to the possibility that ghosts are real, it makes her question who she truly wants to be . . . and be with. Can Kat uncover a two-hundred-year-old secret, and trace its shocking reverberations in her own life, in time to protect what she truly loves?

From School Library Journal

Gr 6 Up—Spinning the story of the Headless Horseman from the perspective of Ichabod Crane's love interest with a twist of feminism and LGBTQIA+ positivity, Valentino retells one of the most ubiquitous cautionary tales of gothic horror, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, with authenticity and ingenuity. Eighteen-year-old Kat longs to attend a distant college but is bound to inherit Katrina Van Tassel's legacy when she marries and accepts the mantle of matriarch as the "reigning Katrina." Tethered by tradition and superstition, Kat's feelings for childhood crush and assumed fiancé, Blake, sour in the face of her blossoming autonomy and skepticism toward the town's morbid obsession with the Headless Horseman. On the 200th anniversary of Katrina's demise, Kat is nowhere to be found; her absence does not go unnoticed, nor does her budding romance with newcomer Isadora Crow, who harbors secrets about the town's mythology and her place in it. Fleeing the entrapment of a loveless marriage, Kat seeks more than friendship with Isadora, but when lies are revealed, her trust waivers; Blake further complicates matters. The townspeople's blind acceptance of the supernatural Katrina lineage is inexplicable, but authentic dialogue and animated storytelling render the parallel story of Kat and Katrina an apt retelling of Irving's classic morality tale, weaving past and present to mirror the original themes of greed, folly, and the threat of superstition trumping reason. VERDICT Recommended for a mildly macabre Halloween-themed read for younger teens who enjoy Marissa Meyer and Jane Yolen, and a good addition where fractured fairy tales and gothic horror are popular.—Rebecca Jung

School Library Journal

A sweet retelling of a spooky classic. ―Kirkus Reviews Spinning the story of the Headless Horseman from the perspective of Ichabod Crane’s love interest with a twist of feminism and LGBTQIA+ positivity, Valentino retells one of the most ubiquitous cautionary tales of gothic horror, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, with authenticity and ingenuity . . . . Recommended for a mildly macabre Halloween-themed read for younger teens who enjoy Marissa Meyer and Jane Yolen, and a good addition where fractured fairy tales and gothic horror are popular.

About the Author

Serena Valentino weaves tales that combine mythos and guile, and she has earned critical acclaim in both the comic and horror domains. She is also the author of the New York Times best-selling Villains series and the graphic novel adaptations of Evil Thing and Fairest of All.

Reviews

News