Review Detail

Jennifer L. Holm is perhaps best known for her historical novels featuring spunky girls (Our Only May Amelia, for instance). In The Creek, shes touching on entirely different territory. Still told through the eyes of a young girl twelve-year old Penny Carson this is a story of suburban terror.

Things seem perfect and idyllic in the Carsons corner of the world until a neighborhood boy that had been sent off to reform school (or perhaps, something even worse) returns. Suddenly, all anyone can think or talk about is Caleb. Their fears seem justified when strange things start happening in the neighborhood, just like before.

One of Pennys friends gets beaten up. Her brother accidentally steps in a trap in the woods marked by a fierce lightning symbol knifed into a tree. Pets begin to disappear. The kids even decide to take matters into their own hands, and thats when things really start to go bad.

This novel is about a lot of things (and Im going to stop describing the plot, since I dont want to give away any details), including how fast (and easy) it is to slip into savagery. How the little things pile up until, all of a sudden, things are really, really bad and you dont know how to get back. How one lie can turn into others.

This novel may honestly scare adults more than kids, as reading between the lines here gave me far more chills than the straightforward story. Even the good kids are scary at times and nothing is black and white. As an adult, I also would have wished for more and better character development. Caleb is shadowy at best, and even Penny is a bit of an enigma.

I guessed the ending about half way through, and some savvy younger readers might as well one of the reasons I gave as few details as I did above. Recommended for readers aged 12 and up, especially those looking for the kind of horror that is subtle, but just as chilling as the bloody stuff (though there is blood, trust me).