School Library Journal Starred Review (Tue Dec 03 00:00:00 CST 2024)

Gr 4–8 —Twelve-year-old Hazel considers herself an amateur detective of sorts, and is planning to start a podcast about mysteries she solves around her town. The cemetery is rumored to be haunted, so when she hears her brother Den and his friends talking about a sneaky game of nighttime hide-and-seek there, she follows him. But when Den's friend Everett doesn't get found by the seeker, and doesn't turn up hours later, Hazel realizes she has a real high-stakes mystery on her hands. As she tries to follow the clues to find Everett, strange and creepy things start to happen. Hazel smells smoke where there isn't any, and they encounter a terrifying presence with red and white clothes and a stitched-up mouth. As Hazel digs into the cemetery's past looking for clues, she uncovers a connection with a horrific accident from many years ago. Can she learn enough to put the ghost to rest and save Everett? Once again, Currie has taken a real-life historical tragedy and created an engaging supernatural tale around those events. Students will be fascinated by the true story outlined in the epilogue. Perfect for young horror fans, there are just enough scares to satisfy without being terrifying. VERDICT Well-written scary novels are few and far between for this age group. All libraries serving middle grades should have this on the shelf.—Mandy Laferriere

ALA Booklist (Tue Dec 03 00:00:00 CST 2024)

In the suburb of Forest Park, Illinois, Hazel is known as something of a snoop, to her family's chagrin. Overhearing that her brother, Den, and his friends will be playing hide-and-seek in Woodlawn Cemetery, Hazel decides to sneak along and expose the secrets of the spooky graveyard, proving her skills as a detective (and for other personal motives). During the game, everyone is found except for Den's annoying best friend, Everett. A panic-stricken town commences to search for the missing child. As Hazel; her best friend, Maggie; and Den seek to uncover the missing boy, they also expose the truth about an ominously smiling ghost haunting Woodlawn. Scritch Scratch (2020) and What Lives in the Woods (2021) author Currie delivers another frightful tale centered around the Chicagoland area. Currie builds suspense through paranormal activities that will leave readers jumping. Middle-graders will admire Hazel's gumption and her journey to becoming an altruistic detective. A solid chiller for fans of Louise Fitzhugh's Harriet the Spy.

Kirkus Reviews

A 12-year-old girl pits her detective skills against a ghost to find a missing boy.Despite her parents' warnings against getting involved in the neighbors' business and refusal to let her start a mystery-themed podcast, Hazel, who is cued white, can't quell her passion for sleuthing. When Dennison, her older brother, sneaks out to play hide-and-seek in the cemetery, Hazel secretly follows. There, she hears chilling screams and howling-and is horrified when Den's friend Everett disappears. The police are called, volunteers form a search party, and Hazel begins to investigate herself, leading her and Den to encounter a terrifying ghost with its mouth sewn shut. Who this ghost is and what drives its actions become the focus of Hazel's investigation. An occasionally flippant tone undercuts genuinely creepy moments, while the mystery elements inconsistently mesh with the paranormal aspects to produce unfounded assumptions about the haunting. Excessive repetition comes across as not trusting readers' abilities and insights. Hazel's superior sleuthing abilities feel unsubstantiated when internet searches that should have occurred earlier in the story immediately yield vital clues late in the novel, and another character presents facts about the cemetery that most people in the community would know. The author's note describes the real historical events behind the haunting.A muddled mystery combined with horror elements. (Paranormal. 9-13)