Another book whose episode adaptation was one of my favourites. Apparently, this is one of Stine’s favourites too. In case someone doesn’t know the story, Stine met a girl named Tara while book signing, who wanted a character named her to be bad. And thus, Tara the Terrible was created.
And she truly is awful. I have to commend the writing for making me absolutely despise this child a mere 30 pages into the book. Michael recounts his twelfth birthday before talking to the audience themselves, saying, “now you understand why I did it.” It is very creepy when you don’t know what he actually did yet.
This is unironically a very realistic depiction of an abusive family. I don’t know how intentional it was. Tara is well, Tara. Michael’s mother is an enabler and justifies everything Tara does, who will no doubt be an entitled and horrible adult. Michael’s dad belittles him at a few points throughout the story in a more subtle way, such as complaining he hasn’t met his milestones fast enough. He’s quick to anger, and Michael acknowledges in his internal monologue when he knows that they’re going to fight before they do.
Needless to say, he seems used to and very downtrodden by their behaviours. I wouldn’t be surprised if a grown up Michael never spoke to any of them.
The time skipping is a little different than the episode. Michael initially skips back a few days, which then turns into years at a time. He gets down to infancy before he fixes the clock and goes back to being twelve again and- where’s Tara?
She doesn’t exist anymore. He accidentally knocked off her year of birth on the clock. Michael says he’ll go back to get her eventually, with the implication that he’s stalling it out and might not. This is considered a positive ending, and it definitely is, but I can’t help feeling that if Tara and Michael had better parents, she wouldn’t behave that way. There would’ve been way less animosity. Nevertheless, good for Michael.
We spend a lot of time in Michael’s head and I feel like we get a good gauge of his character without it getting boring. He’s relatable and interesting. You just want him to get one win or succeed throughout the story because of the effectiveness of the writing.
I also really like the cover even though I’m 50/50 on the animal designs for the books. I think the bulbous head of the bird works better than say, The Barking Ghost. It’s not nearly as egregious and just plays into the Jacobus-ness of it. Love the angle and perspective as well.