Skeleton Creek (Hardcover)

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Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 6 Up—Ryan McCray and Sarah Fincher wonder how Skeleton Creek, OR, received its name. Research takes them on a nighttime expedition to a mechanical dredge, where Ryan breaks his leg. The teens think the dredge is haunted by Joe Bush, a miner killed there. The book is interspersed with Sarah's videos, which can be accessed on the Internet. The mystery remains to be solved; sequels are guaranteed. Plot weaknesses mitigate the teen appeal of the Internet tie-in concept. The book's central flaw: it is not scary. Ryan's narration should provide creepy immediacy, but his constant insistence that he is petrified never plays out in the story. The book ramps up and peters out, without a climax or resolution of the mystery. The repetitive musings hold the pace to a slow walk, and Carman relies on contrivance to keep adults at bay. Another reason it lags is the lack of synergy between Ryan and Sarah, even though they are supposedly best friends. They communicate only via electronic means (their parents have forbidden their friendship), and their individual findings don't dovetail into one coherent story line. Even if one stops to watch Sarah's videos, there seem to be missing pieces of information that make the plot hard to follow. The actual telling is a sad departure from the intriguing premise.—Caitlin Augusta, The Darien Library, CT
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From Booklist

A gimmick? You betcha. But given the novelty and the advertising blast this novel with accompanying Web videos is getting, this is something kids will want. And Carman’s accessible, journal-type text, full of mystery and foreshadowing, pulls from the outset. Teenage Ryan records the circumstances that landed him with a broken leg, forever—according to his parents—parted from his partner in mischief, Sarah Fincher. But parental edicts mean little in the face of a true mystery in the teens’ boring town, so the two use technology to keep in touch: while Ryan journals and frets, Sarah films her adventures, references to which appear periodically in the journal along with the address of a Web site where they can be viewed. With an appropriately homemade look, the nicely choreographed videos definitely build atmosphere, but for most of the novel, readers won’t miss vital clues if a computer isn’t close at hand. It’s the ending that really annoys: the last page of the journal leads to a video that promises answers—but not until May 2009. A spoiler? Not quite, but certainly something book purchasers should know about. Grades 5-8. --Stephanie Zvirin

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 9-12
  
• Hardcover: 144 pages
• Publisher: Scholastic Press (February 10, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0545075661
• ISBN-13: 978-0545075664
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (30 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #7,928 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Book Review: Skeleton Creek, February 16, 2009

By	T. Jonker "http://100scopenotes.wordpress.com" - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Skeleton Creek. Part book, part online movie. It incorporates text and video in a way that has not been done before. Skeleton Creek will be the topic of some debate, folks (What is reading? What is a book?). None of it would be worth much if the book wasn't so much fun to read.

The story moves from the get-go. We find out that the book is really Ryan's journal. Ryan is a compulsive, passionate writer who would be lost without the ability to put pen to paper. In handwriting-style font, Ryan describes a recent accident that has left him bed ridden, separated from his friend Sarah, and wrapped up in a mystery that he is in no position to solve. Skeleton Creek, a tiny mountain town that was once bustling with gold rush activity, has been host to some strange goings-on. The abandoned dredge in the nearby woods may be haunted. Ryan and Sarah's first nighttime visit to the dilapidated old machine nearly killed Ryan. Sarah, a curious amateur filmmaker, wants to get to the bottom of things. The two are forbidden (by their parents) to talk, but communicate anyway though email and videos that Sarah sends (and the reader watches). As the mystery becomes more complex, involving family members, Ryan and Sarah become increasingly brazen in their investigation. It all culminates in a genuinely scary middle of the night trip to the Dredge that ends with our protagonists in peril.

It's the kind of cliffhanger ending that will leave some readers frustrated. Scratch that - outright displeased. But it's for the right reasons. There is a sequel that will be released in September `09 (Ghost in the Machine), so that will ease some readers, anxious to know how it will end. Initially, before I knew about the sequel, I thought it was up to the reader to piece together the ending through online clues - man am I glad they didn't go that route. However, there is a large amount of online content for readers to delve into before the sequel hits shelves for those who are so inclined. All of the sites associated with the book treat the story like it really happened, increasing the scare factor.

The smooth combination of text and video is impressive. Every couple chapters, Sarah sends Ryan a message with a password. You head to the website, type in the password, and the video begins immediately. Some videos show Sarah talking, but most are from the field, revealing new characters or information about the dredge. Fans of scary will love these, while easily spooked children's lit bloggers may choose to watch them with all the lights on, and the stereo playing. And the TV on.

There are moments that distract from the storyline. One occurs when Ryan is writing down his escape from the house as it happens. I know the author wanted to express the tension of the moment, but make sure your disbelief is set to "suspended" for this scene. Also, the character who plays Sarah occasionally lapses into some "just spit it out!"-type moments. Thankfully, these flaws are fairly minor, and do not have much of an impact on the work as a whole.

There will be those who question the legitimacy of the format, but here's the bottom line:

It's an entertaining read, an engaging mystery, and it should perk up the ears of even the most reluctant of readers. You will be doing yourself a favor by adding it to your collection.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars BLT Reviews, July 1, 2009

By	Books and Literature for Teens (BLT) - See all my reviews

After a "accident" happens while exploring the old dredge (a huge mining machine), Ryan McCray is left with a broken leg and a encounter he'll never forget. While Ryan is recovering, he starts recounting his story in his journal, whereas Sarah takes things into her own hands and starts getting to the bottom of this chilling mystery one video at a time. Two teens, one ghost, and a town full secret society members. Something is wrong with Skeleton Creek, but can the twosome find the answer before they burn the dredge to ground and all it's secrets with it?

*****

Master of creepiness or an artists with panicky words? That is the question. When I first started reading this book I noticed that how the author got you scared was with simple words and phrases like "fear", "too terrible to write down", "dredge", "watching", or even "window". I hate windows at night. And wouldn't you know it, that is how the "ghost" is introduced... peeping through a window (see book cover). Is it just me or do I feel a chill? Hmm, oh well. The first two videos are creepy and I would highly recommend a buddy being there with you. Good news though, the rest of the videos are fine. No creepy things popping up, mainly stuff about the mystery. The mystery parts were actually quite interesting and I'm anticipating the next book, but I'm a little nervous about the videos. I can't say that I was so scared out of my pants that I couldn't continue, but it was enough to creep me out. I don't particularly like ghost stories unless I have a good hunch (and it turns out to be true) that the so-called ghost is a real person just scaring people. (I think I watched too many Scooby-Doos.) I thought combining text and video was a really neat idea and, although I prefer to read rather than watch, I think this new idea is a great way to get kids to read. I really don't agree with this book being labeled 9-12 because if someone younger than twelves picks up this book, chances are they'll have a hard time going to sleep. I would recommend to anyone age 12+, but definitely not anyone younger.

If you like ghost mysteries, grab this book and let the story of Skeleton Creek suck you in. Hey, this would even be a great thing to read during a sleep-over. But if you're faint of heart or don't like to be scared, then you know you shouldn't read this book.
No goosebumps? Great. Well here's your chance to experience Ryan and Sarah's adventure yourself because I'm giving away a signed copy of Skeleton Creek. I'm 90% sure that I'm going to give away some other books along with Skeleton Creek, so it might be a few more weeks till this book is actually up for grabs. Please stay tuned!

Ready for the next chilling adventure? Don't hold your breath 'cause Book 2, Ghost In The Machine (Skeleton Creek) will be here October 1st, 2009.


Genre: Mystery/Thriller/Suspense
Age Group: YA, ages 12+
Content: Spookiness

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A huge hit in my classroom!, May 24, 2009

By	S. C. Mulhern "TheReadingZone" (NJ, United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I don't know if I will recover from reading Patrick Carman's Skeleton Creek anytime soon. This is one scary book! I don't do scary movies and I rarely read horror books, but the multimedia aspect of Skeleton Creek intrigued me, so I had to give it a shot. Do not read this one when you are home alone. I wouldn't even read it at night! It's a fantastic story and I think I would be even more enthusiastic about it if I was a horror reader. But I can recognize and appreciate a great book, even if it's my least favorite genre.

The story is told in journal form, with lined pages and handwriting-like font. The journal writer is Ryan and he has just come home from spending two weeks in the hospital. Ryan has been forbidden from seeing his best friend, Sarah, after getting into an accident the last time the two were together. Life in Skeleton Creek is boring and the two had gone to explore a strange gold-mining dredge in the woods where a worker, Joe Bush, had died. That's where Ryan falls and ends up in the hospital in a coma for almost 2 days.
Ryan and Sarah are forbidden from seeing or contacting each other, but this is the age of the internet, IMing, blogging, and websites. Sarah emails video updates of her continued investigation to Ryan. Readers can access Sarah's videos through the website listed in the book and the passwords given on each page.
The first video Sarah sends shows her first visit to the dredge and their first evidence that someone else is there. The video immediately creeped me out and I actually jumped at the end. It reminded me a lot of the cinematography in "The Blair Witch Project". SCARY! The second video shows the night of Ryan's accident. In late videos Sarah continues to lay out her investigation. Again- CREEPY. I had trouble watching some of the videos because they really are scary.

I can not wait to share this with my students and I can already predict a rush to buy the book, because no one is going to want to wait on a waiting list for this one. The multimedia concept is really cool and I think it's going to hook a lot of my more reluctant readers (especially boys). Because the two main characters are male and female, this is an equal opportunity horror book that both boys and girls will enjoy, though.

I love the video+text combination, but I do wonder how to handle it sometimes. Not every kid is going to have access to the internet when they are reading the book. The videos are interspersed throughout the book, sometimes only a few pages apart. While you can certainly read it without watching the videos, you will lose a lot of the story and atmosphere. Kids can't always get to a computer while reading, especially if we are encouraging kids to read anywhere they can. If you are reading at your brother or sister's soccer game, you aren't going to jump online to watch the videos. Instead, you will be pulled out of "the zone" and might not continue reading until you can get online. Also, what if the website is down a few years from now but the book is still in libraries. Is it then useless? Interesting dilemmas.

There are definitely some issues with the idea of tying books to the internet. However, Skeleton Creek is a fantastic read and my horror fans are going to eat this one up. And I know they will be thrilled that there is going to be a sequel in the fall. Definitely pick this one up for your tween/YA horror fans.

To get an idea of how creepy the videos are, check out this video from [...]