Small Spaces by Katherine Arden

Since her mother's death in a small plane crash, Olivia has lost interest in everything she used to love.  She no longer competes in the chess club or makes any effort to have friends. One day she gets in trouble by defending Coco, the new girl in school. She is expelled from school and escapes into a nearby forest on her bike.  There she sees a woman weeping and trying to throw an old book into the stream.  Olivia snatches the book away and takes it home.  As she reads it, an old story unfolds about a curse, and a powerful evil force.  Little does she know that the book's  "fictional" story will soon become her reality.

Here is a seriously creepy book, just right for Halloween thrills and chills.  My blog readers know that I tend compare scary children's books to Coraline, by Neal Gaiman, because that one, in my opinion, went over the line for acceptable creepiness. This one gets close to the line, doesn't quite cross it.  That said, it is not for the faint of heart.  The zombie scarecrows could haunt a sensitive child's nightmares but the scariness is balanced by the plucky nature of the heroine and her friends. For those kids who love spine tingling suspense, this is one of the best that have come along since The Charmed Children of Rookskill Castle.  (2018, 218 p.)