Cabin Creek Mysteries #4: The Haunting of Hillside School [Mass Market Paperback]

Kristiana Gregory (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 7 and up | Grade Level: 2 and up | Series: Cabin Creek Mysteries

It's a new school year in Cabin Creek and the cousins have a new mystery. When Claire and David look out the art room window and see a girl's pale face, they suspect it's a ghost. How else could someone look into a second floor window and just disappear? As the cousins investigate, they find other peculiar clues: piano music lilting through the halls, the aroma of pumpkin pie, and a crooked old painting that looks like the ghost's face. Is their spooky old school house really a haunted house?
Each of the six books in this series feature atmospheric spot art throughout.

This is #4 in the series.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Kristiana Gregory is the bestselling author of many Dear America titles, including Across the Lonesome Prairie and Seeds of Hope. Her novel Jenny of the Tetons won the SCBWI Golden Kite Award. The Cabin Creek Mysteries are based on bedtime stories she told her sons when they were young and restless. Kristiana lives in Boise, Idaho.

More about Kristiana Gregory:
"Through Hattie's diary, Gregory brings the rigors of the trip to life, but she also includes the details that kept the settlers going--the friendships and camaraderie that developed and the joyful events (a wedding and some births) that occurred. Gregory brings a sobering dose of reality to an era that's often romanticized; this is a fine glimpse of history on a human scale."--Kirkus Reviews, for Dear America: Across a Wide and Lonesome Prairie

"As she has done in several previous historical novels, Gregory brings to life events and perspectives not often found in the standard history texts... the bloody battles, and the suspenseful tone of the short, cliffhanger chapters will keep most readers involved. Meanwhile, Gregory provides insights into life in Alta California and nicely integrates Spanish words into the text. Historical notes, a glossary, a bibliography, and maps add to this novel's utility as a starting point for history lessons as well as for leisure reading."--School Library Journal, for The Stowaway: A Tale of California Pirates.

"This is heartfelt historical fiction, and readers will relish each page of the adventure."--Publisher's Weekly, for Jenny of the Tetons, winner of the Golden Kite Award and an NCSS-CBC Notable Children's Trade Book in the Field of Social Studies.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 7 and up
  
• Mass Market Paperback: 176 pages
• Publisher: Scholastic Paperbacks (September 1, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0545003784
• ISBN-13: 978-0545003780
• Product Dimensions: 7.4 x 5.2 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #258,769 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Kristiana Gregory grew up in Manhattan Beach, California, two blocks from the ocean. She's always loved to make up stories [ask her family!], telling her younger siblings whoppers that would leave them wide-eyed and shivering. Her first rejection letter at age ten was for a poem she wrote in class when she was supposed to be doing a math assignment. She's had a myriad of odd jobs: telephone operator, lifeguard, camp counselor, reporter, book reviewer & columnist for the LA Times, and finally author.

"Jenny of the Tetons" [Harcourt] won the Golden Kite Award in 1989 and was the first of two-dozen historical novels for middle grade readers. "Bronte's Book Club" [Holiday House] is set in a town by the sea and is inspired by the girls' book club she led for several years. "My Darlin' Clementine" [HH] takes place in an Idaho mining camp of 1866, based on the song of that name.

Her popular "Cabin Creek Mysteries" are from stories she told her sons when they were little and needed a bribe to go to bed. All she needed to say was, "Do you guys want to hear a Jeff and David story?" and boom they were there. Kristiana's most recent title is "Cannons At Dawn" in Scholastic's Dear America series, a sequel to the best-selling "The Winter of Red Snow," which was made into a movie for the HBO Family Channel.

Kristiana and her husband have two adult sons, and live in Idaho with their two golden retrievers. In her spare time she loves to swim, walk, read, and hang out with friends. She's trying to learn to knit, but isn't yet having much success.

Check out Kristiana's blogs at http://notesfromthesunroom.blogspot.com/ for behind-the-scenes stories about her books, and with photos from her childhood.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A real page turner, November 9, 2008

By 

Fourthcorner Reader (BELLINGHAM, WA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Cabin Creek Mysteries #4: The Haunting of Hillside School (Mass Market Paperback)

My son is 8 and has been a reluctant reader until about the past month or so. He's just begun to read chapter books, and this one has kept him up late many evenings. It must be pretty suspenseful because he kept running out of his room to tell me how excited he was to turn the page and find out what happened next. Here's a review in his own words:

"Cabin Creek Mysteries is awesome. I've been reading lots of books and my favorite is The Haunting of Hillside School. It is the best book I've ever read so far. It has good description. I want to read all the Cabin Creek Mysteries."

I'm definitely going to get the others in the series.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Cabin Creek Mysteries, January 1, 2009

By 

Barbara M. Wallace - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Cabin Creek Mysteries #4: The Haunting of Hillside School (Mass Market Paperback)

This review is being written by my 8 year old grandaughter, Mary. I loved this book but,I love all the other Cabin Creek Mysteries also.I can not wait until the 2 other books come out in February and May. I give all the books 5 stars but if there were more stars allowed, I would give all of them 1 million!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Is Hillside School really haunted?, February 16, 2010

By 

Raj "raj_thatsme" (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Cabin Creek Mysteries #4: The Haunting of Hillside School (Mass Market Paperback)

Synopsis: Nine year old Claire Posey is in school, attending her after school pottery class, and looks out of the window. She is shocked to see a girl's face staring at her for a moment, but then the girl disappears. She mentions the incident to her cousins David and Jeff Bridger, and they decide to investigate the mystery to find out if it was a ghost. Later, when having supper with their trusted family friend Mr. Wellback, he tells them about the terrible tragedy of Nettie Tuttle (who lived in the mansion, which is now the Hillside School), and the tragedy of his classmate who was found dead in the school basement.

Soon, the gang start hearing someone playing the piano near the music wing. They enter a room where they think the music is coming from, but are shocked to see the room filled with cobwebs, with a dust covered piano inside. As soon as they come out of the room, they start hearing the piano playing again, and smell cinnamon in the air.

The kids also hear that Hillside School is going to be turned into a vacation resort, and that they would have to transfer to Fairfield. Is there a ghost in Hillside School trying to stop the school from being a resort? As Jeff, David, and Claire continue to investigate the mystery, they come across different clues, but are they brave enough to solve the mystery?

Review: This is the first book I read from the "Cabin Creek Mysteries" stories, and I really enjoyed it. Each chapter reveals something new for the three characters, adding another clue to the mystery. Each chapter seemed like a new adventure for the gang, even though they were searching for clues behind the mystery of the girl.

Some areas of the book which I really found particularly interesting to read were when the children hear someone playing the piano playing and smell cinnamon, or when someone locks them in the shed outside the school. The illustrations were also beautifully and realistically drawn, and I especially liked the ones drawn for the old piano and the canoe near the docks.

If you love reading classic Nancy Drew or Hardy Boys, you will definitely enjoy Cabin Creek Mysteries.