Save Halloween! [Hardcover]

Stephanie S. Tolan (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 10 and up

In a thought-provoking novel by the author of A Good Courage, Johnna is excited when her sixth-grade teacher asks her to write a pageant--until Johnna's famous evangelist uncle launches a crusade against Halloween.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 5-7-Johnna is pleased to have been assigned to research and write her sixth grade class's Halloween play with another classmate. There is a major problem, though-she is the daughter of an evangelist minister. As such, religion is a major part of her daily life, and she is forbidden to celebrate "the devil's holiday." However, she agrees to write the script, gaining confidence in herself as her ideas are accepted by her peers. But as she is gaining in confidence at school, the home front is fraught with tension. Uncle T.T., a charismatic traveling minister and fund raiser, agrees to do a tent crusade to help increase the coffers. His thrust is to unite the town against the devil's handiwork, and the school superintendent subsequently bans all Halloween activities. The sixth graders mount a campaign of their own, and the pageant goes on as planned. The story melds the history of the holiday, plus the fundamentalist objections to it with a degree of success. While some readers may have difficultly relating to Johnna's many conversations with Jesus, they should find the plot thought-provoking and engrossing. Tolan provides the holiday's historical background in detail, using the script writing of the pageant as a vehicle to bring up her point, as she contrasts it with the fundamental revivalist beliefs. She also arrives at a logical "meeting of the minds."-Beth Irish, Orange Public Library, CA
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Kirkus Reviews

When Johnna's teacher enlists her to script the sixth-grade Halloween pageant, the loner is caught between her fundamentalist family's beliefs and the truth her research reveals. Johnna comes from a family of preachers. Short of cash as a result of her father's generosity, her mother invites Uncle T.T., an evangelist, to lead a money-making crusade in their small Ohio town. His condemnation of Halloween as ``the Devil's Holiday'' divides the community. Johnna's opposition to her family will lead her to a new sense of self and new friends, while she discovers her gifts as an author and an evangelist in her own right. Though Tolan opens up the issue of group hysteria without exploring it in depth, that's a minor flaw in a book with several nicely realized characters of quiet courage, refreshingly committed to their faith. (Fiction. 9- 14) -- Copyright ©1993, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 10 and up
  
• Hardcover: 168 pages
• Publisher: William Morrow & Co (September 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0688121683
• ISBN-13: 978-0688121686
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.8 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,299,414 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A fantastic and exciting story., October 13, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Save Halloween! (Hardcover)

Save Halloween is so exciting that I never wanted to put it down. It is something that everyone can relate to sometime in their life. It's about a girl named Johnna who could never celebrate Halloween. Her uncle came from Texas and tried to ban Halloween from her town. Will she be able to save Halloween

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What Is Halloween Really About?, August 16, 2007

By 

Library Lady (Colorado) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Save Halloween! (Paperback)

I just discovered our library has no copies left of this book and I'm very sad! It is such an insightful and thought-provoking novel for middle graders, besides being very exciting!
Johnna, the daughter of a fundamentalist minister, attends the local public school where the annual Halloween pageant is the big event. Johnna has never been allowed to participate in the pageant, but this year, unknown to her parents, she has been asked to help write the script. The pageant this year is about the history of Halloween, and as Johnna and friends conduct their research, she is surprised to find that Halloween did not begin as Satan worship, as she has always been told, but was actually started by people who wanted to ward off evil spirits, because they were afraid of death. Johnna and her friends conclude that even today, the reason it's so fun to dress up as spooky characters and tell scary stories is because most people still fear death--and it's more fun to poke fun at your fears than to be afraid.
Unfortunately, just as the kids have their big pageant all ready, Johnna's traveling evangelist uncle comes to town and mounts a big anti-Halloween crusade. After a barrage of anti-Halloween letters from parents, the school cancels the pageant. But Johnna and her friends decide to stand up to the teachers and parents and save Halloween. They find an alternate place to hold the pageant and speak up for what they believe is the truth about the holiday. Surprisingly, Johnna's parents support her in the decision. In the end, Johnna decides that, for her, Halloween isn't as important as her family and her religion--after all, believing in God helps people not to be afraid, too. She may not celebrate Halloween in the future, but she'll always be glad she did what she could to save it for others.
All though this book has a few weaknesses (for instance, Johnna's fundamentalist family are portrayed a bit too stereotypically), it is a great discussion-starter, and may help kids who wonder how Halloween got started, and what the modern-day fuss about Halloween is all about. As a Christian who allows my children to celebrate this holiday, I love this book!

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars VERY GOOD, August 28, 2002

By 

YVETTE MOHILL "teefus" (chicago) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Save Halloween! (Hardcover)

THIS BOOK IS ABOUT A 11 YEAR OLD JONAH. HER dad is an fundmentla minster and is agagints halloween. then her uncle who is also a minster comes to town and wants to banne halloween. jonnah likes halloween and is the writer of her schools halloween play can she stand up for what she belives. if if it means going agasints her family.