The Meanest Doll in the World
Martin and Godwin
2003
Submitter: This book is probably not as bad as it appears, but the drawings creeped me out more than anything. It is written by Ann Martin, who has written several popular titles that circulate well in our library. Brian Selznick illustrated this jewel as well. The graphics are, in fact detailed and look quite awesome, but look at them! SCARY! Any child 8-12 (BTW, that is the recommended age group for this book) who gets this book is going to have nightmares of Chucky and his Bride. When we went to a genrefied junior- senior high school library, we tossed around keeping it but it was fairly new. We put it in our Weird Types of Fiction section… mainly because it is. It has never been checked out since it was added in 2003 as a new title. It’s hasta la bye bye for this treasure!
Holly: Woah! It is creepy! That probably makes it more appealing to 8-12 year olds, actually. I’m surprised it never got a checkout. Between the popular authors and illustrator and the creep factor, it was a reasonable choice for a middle school library. Those pictures are nightmare-inducing for sure, though!
Awful Library Books 