By Sophia B., 3rd grade

When I think of fall I think of Halloween. When I think of Halloween I think of Skeleton Creek. Skeleton Creek is a great series of books in which two teenage kids (Ryan & Sarah) start looking for the past of their town. They never suspected that it would get them into so much trouble. Now they are forced to keep secrets they never would want to keep.

There is an old dredge in the town where, say, 60 years before a man named Joe Bush caught his pant leg in the gears of the dredge. The gears pulled him down to the dark murky waters of the lake. He was never seen again. Sarah goes down to the dredge one night and sees Joe Bush. She takes a video of him to show Ryan. The next night they go down to the dredge again and see Joe Bush. The zombie (Joe  Bush) gets too close. Ryan freaks out and falls down to a lower level of planks in the dredge. He breaks his leg and Sarah is blamed for the trouble. They are not allowed to see each other anymore. Ryan and Sarah don’t tell anyone about Joe Bush for fear of being taken to some sort of place where they help you get back to normal if you’re going crazy.

Ryan’s dad has a tattoo that he calls the “Birdie”. He doesn’t like to talk about it. It turns out to be an alchemy sign meaning gold. His dad is part of a secret society called The Crossbones. Ryan begins to fear his father has something to do with the death of Joe Bush or his own injury.

The really cool thing about the series is that when you come to a page with just a drawing, a web address, and a password, you can go to the website, type in the password, and watch the video that’s part of the story.

Yes, I would recommend this series to a friend (but there is a warning just ahead even though I like the series) WARNING!!! If you are easily scared I would not read the books or watch the videos. If you are frightened by some things I would just read the books. If you are barely frightened by zombies and really scary things then go ahead, read the books and watch the videos. Just so you know after reading this book I am afraid of morse code so you might not like morse code either after reading the books (if you do).*

The really creepy part about Skeleton Creek is that it’s in Oregon!!! I am always laying on my bead in cold sweat. I keep thinking Joe Bush is really in my room!!! A tip in case you get freaked out at night because of Joe Bush: Completely submerge yourself in your blanket then push up a small section of your blanket. It will open just enough to breathe through. This way you don’t have to face the dark and you can breathe better.

Also, if you are looking in the library for this book but you have to search by author, the author is Patrick Carmen. He has written a lot of other series. He also has a few single books too. I really like the Skeleton Creek series. I haven’t read any of the other series but you can probably trust that they will be good too.

Here are all the books in the series. (This review is of the first book.) #1. Skeleton Creek. #2. Ghost In The Machine. #3. The Crossbones. #4. The Raven. BYE!!!!!!!!!!

 

*Editor’s Note: always get your parents’ permission before visiting a new web site!