The Prince of Mist by Carlos Ruiz Zafon

It's 1943, and Max and his family have moved from the city to a small coastal village to escape the war.  Max discovers that in the house his family has bought, a young boy named Jacob once lived, who died by drowning.  Max, his sister Alicia and their new friend Roland begin to explore the mysterious circumstances of Jacob's death.  In the process they discover the Prince of Mist, an evil magician who has returned after many years to collect a debt.

The Prince of Mist was originally published in Spain in 1993.  It only made it to the U.S. a year ago.

I enjoyed the story, but thought it was too short.  I so rarely say I think anything's too short!  I wanted things fleshed out more!  I wanted more details!  I wonder if some of it had to do with the translation.  I always wonder about translations.  How much am I losing by not being able to read it in the language it was originally written it?

I will say, I wasn't clear exactly why this was the time the Prince of Mist decided to return and claim Jacob, aside from the fact that this is when Max and his family moved there and that was the story.  The Prince and his henchpeople have been biding their time as statues for years and years.  Why did they decide to come back?  Actually, now that I'm thinking more about it, why was he hiding for all those years?  Hmm.  So yes, I'd have liked a little more information.

Still, I would recommend it for middle school.  It's a quick read with great boy appeal.

*Note: So this is actually a series, which I didn't realize at first.  There are another two already written, but they are not available in English yet.