Found another good spooky mystery for middle grade readers! Like I've mentioned before, scary books for these readers are sometimes difficult to find. Late elementary and middle grade readers may not be ready for Stephen King, but they are interested in being scared by a good book. SMALL SPACES by Katherine Arden offers just the right amount of fright for this group.
Ollie still struggles with the death of her daring mother. Some of the struggle has resulted in a hair trigger when it comes to dealing with the bullies at school. She is thought of as strange by her classmates so she spends most of her time alone. A walk in the woods lands Ollie face-to-face with a crying woman. Much to Ollie's shock, the woman is about to hurl a book into the nearby stream. Ollie's instinct is to rescue the book and take off.
The book titled Small Spaces is a slim volume with a scary plot involving a smiling man and some creepy ghosts. Why was the woman about to throw it away? Why was she crying? Ollie hopes to finish the book on the bus as she and her classmates head off on a field trip to a local farm.
Creepiness truly sets in when the book and the field trip begin to twist and turn into similar scenarios. Ollie and two classmates disobey orders to remain on the bus after it breaks down on the return trip. They find themselves battling scarecrows and darkness in their quest to stay alive.
SMALL SPACES is perfect for fans of Goosebumps, and blurb quotes like "scared the snot out of me" make this worthy mystery material.
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