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BROKEN DOLLS

Ally Malinenko

One. Two. Three. Are you ready to play?
Ever since Kaye's grandfather died, she's been obsessed with counting things: the steps to her bedroom, the dolls on her sister's bed, even the threads on her favorite blanket. It's arithmomania, and with the selective mutism that sometimes prevents her from speaking, she literally can't find the words to talk about how she feels now that Grampa is gone. When they take the summer to clean out and renovate his old house, Kaye finds herself counting the days.

That is, until her younger sister, Holly, starts finding dolls. She finds them buried in the backyard, stuffed in the walls, crammed into the closets. From the first one, Kaye knows they aren't like normal dolls. They smile at her like they know something, and sometimes their eyes open and close on their own. Kaye hears her sister talking to them constantlyand she swears she's heard the dolls whispering back.

Everyone assumes that Holly's just a kid with a good imagination. Kaye doesn't think it's a game, because she knows that Hollyand the dollsare going to make her play with them. Forever.

Ally Malinenko, a long time Brooklyn resident, works as a research librarian at the Brooklyn Public Library's Central branch which has more floors underground than above a fact that actually found its way into Palimpsest! Her previous work includes the poetry books The Wanting Bone (Six Gallery Press), How to be An America (Six Gallery Press) and Better Luck Next Year (Low Ghost Press) as well as the children's fantasy Lizzy Speare and the Cursed Tomb (Antenna Books) and the YA novel This Is Sarah (Bookfish Books). In an alternate dimension she's a phenomenal chess player but unfortunately she lives in this one.
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Published 2025-09-30 by HarperCollins

Comments

With its realistic and loveable characters, as well as its many twists and turns, Broken Dolls is everything I could ever need in middle grade horror. What I loved most, though, is that this story had the perfect balance of heart and scares that Ally Malinenko is known for. (Now please excuse me while I check my backyard for doll parts . . .)

A chilling, heart-racing story where the horror creeps up on you like a shadow. It's perfect for readers who crave suspense, supernatural thrills, and emotional depth. This book is more than just spookyit's a journey through the scariest parts of ourselves, and the strength it takes to face them.

BROKEN DOLLS, Ally Malinenko: Not coming until the fall, but I can't help telling you how good it is. Middle-grade horror, sure, but it does the job. Scary dolls that multiply...a sinister magician.. and an. understated but moving subtext how young people deal with grief. Put it on your list.

Ally Malinenko writes a deliciously creepy storyeerie traveling carnivals! moving dolls!but it's her insight into her characters' hearts that brings the whole thing to life. This book is a magic spell of fear, grief, courage, and love.

Poland: Nowa Basn

Hauntingly brilliant and so creepy it kept me up at night! I will never ever look at dolls the same way again!

Broken Dolls brilliantly blends all the spooky, creepy fun that kids love with deeper thoughts about what it means to live after loss.

Creepy dolls! Creepy puppets! Creepy magicians! If that were all this book had, it would still be a delightbut Broken Dolls reaches further. This is a story about grief and guilt, and is both tender and terrifying in equal measure. Ally Malinenko's work knows that scary stories can do so much more than just scare us (though scare you, this will).