Dread Wood: New for 2022, a funny, scary, sci-fi thriller from the author of Crater Lake. Perfect for kids aged 9-12 and fans of Goosebumps!: Book 1

by Jennifer Killick

Paperback, 2022

Status

Available

Call number

823.92

Genres

Collection

Publication

Farshore (2022), 336 pages

Description

When classmates (but not mate-mates) Hallie, Angelo, Gustav and Naira are forced to come to school on a Saturday, they think things can't get much worse. But they're wrong. Things are about to get seriously scary. What has dragged their teacher underground? Why do the creepy caretakers keeping humming the tune to Itsy Bitsy Spider? And what horrors lurk in the shadows, getting stronger and meaner every minute? Cut off from help and in danger each time they touch the ground, the gang's only hope is to work together. But it's no coincidence that they're all there on detention. Someone has been watching and plotting and is out for revenge.

User reviews

LibraryThing member AVoraciousReader
Book source ~ Tour

Classmates Hallie, Angelo, Gus, and Naira end up serving a Saturday detention together. The horror! No, actually, the horror is much much worse. It’s basically Thunderdome. Four classmates go in, will four classmates come out?

Pigs and chickens and spiders, oh my! This isn’t
Show More
The Breakfast Club, not by a long shot. Ok, maybe a little bit. All four of our naughty detainees have something in common (besides being classmates and having done a dastardly deed) and they’ll find out what that is before the day is done. The action keeps the plot advancing at an even pace, the horror is sufficiently icky, and the villains are creepy but not too much so (this is MG after all). But what really makes this book shine are the kids. I love how pieces of them are revealed a bit at a time. No, not those kinds of pieces! Nobody is chopped into bits or anything so gross. Eeeeew! I also love how they are basically loners who figure out they have to work together to get out of their dangerous situation alive. And they show incredible courage and fortitude against impossible odds. If you like your MG books to have awesome characters plonked down in an awful situation then this is the tale for you! There’s humor, horror, and humility, oh my!
Show Less

Awards

The Children's Book Award (Shortlist — Older Readers — 2023)

Language

Original language

English

Physical description

336 p.; 7.8 inches

ISBN

0755503716 / 9780755503711

Barcode

91120000487795

DDC/MDS

823.92
Page: 0.1456 seconds