The Creek

Reader reviewed by Tobie

This book made me want to pee my pants with every page i turned. It scared me to death and the story line was soo suspenseful that i couldn't put the book down. i love how the kids take matters into their own hands and become dependant on one another. this book is great for any person who loves scary books or movies

Reader reviewed by Val

The Creek is definitely an interesting and suspenseful novel that although has a predictable culprit over all is quite an intriguing book. The story begins with the introduction of Penny and her nieghbors who also happen to be boys and her best friends. One of the resons I liked this books so much was because it is relatable in contrary to what another reviewer of the book said. I have a friend who sounds so much like Penny its uncanning. Anyway, Penny and her friends are shell-shocked when they discover that Caleb Devlin who was sent away years ago after the disappearance of pets in the nieghborhood returns! Even stranger is wierd events like that of long ago start reoccuring for example the disappearance of pets and fires. Penny and the rest of the town thinks its Caleb Devlin back to his old tricks but can you ever be too sure is the real question posed in this story? I thought that Ms.Holm did a fine job of portraying horror with coming of age all through the eyes of a twelve year old tom-boy. The book had a great ending that left me, a usual picky person about book endings, especially horror novels which is why I tend not to read them contented! All in all, I would most definitely reccomend The Creek. Its not the greatest book in my oppinion that you will ever read but it certainly will help culture any literary mind!

Reader reviewed by librariane

The neighborhood is tense and worried: Caleb Devlin is home again. Five years ago he did a
heinous crime that the adults wont talk about, so the kids imaginations run wild, and Penny starts to have panic attacks again because of all this. Penny and her brother Teddy are relatively new to the neighborhood, and Penny likes to hang with the guys. Their summer project is to build a
summer fort by the creek. But thanks to Caleb being home again, the kids are forbidden to play in the woods or go by the creek. Of course, no one listens to their parents and often sneak out to play in the woods or swim in the creek. When mysterious things start happening around the
neighborhood (e.g. pets missing), Caleb is immediately suspected. But Penny knows it could not be him, and struggles to figure out who really is causing all the mischief.

This is a suspense/horror novelI didnt want to stop until I got to the end so that I could find out whodunit. Using Pennys newness to the neighborhood was a good device to let the reader feel the action and the intrigue: we always know as much as Penny, thus feel like were part of the
crowd. Penny is a likeable enough character. Shes 13, and confused about many things that
young teenagers are confused about. Why does Amy (the 14 year old across the street) not like
her anymore? Why cant she just be one of the guys anymore? Does she really have to wear a
bra? I also enjoyed the boys around her, and her relationship with her brother. There are a
couple of murders in the book, brief references to sexual feelings (v. little) and some violence
(besides the murders). A good, quick read.

Reader reviewed by bookworm9

Twelve-year-old Penny is looking forward to another summer of bumming around with her friends Mac, Benji, and Oren, and her younger brother, Teddy. But when Caleb Devlin arrives back in town after several years in a home for juvenile delinquents, rumors are flying about the horrible crimes he commited in the past. Then new mysteries start popping up, like missing pets and a fire in the kids' tree fort. People are injured, and then someone is murdered. But Penny has her own secret-- she knows it isn't Caleb. But who is the murderer...and will Penny live to find out?

First off, I'd like to say that I enjoyed Holm's historical fiction ("Our Only May Amelia" and the Boston Jane series), and was expecting good things from "The Creek." Unfortunately, she didn't deliver. Writing a suspense thriller for the middle school crowd is ambitious, and perhaps Holm should stick to historical fiction.

From the beginning, I was annoyed by the setting, which seemed straight out of a sixties sitcom, yet was apparently supposed to be present day. There is a brief mention of video games, and one or two expressions that are obviously current, but other than that the characters seem stuck in a time warp. They had names like Penny and Mac and Benji and Becky and Betty Ann. The kids are always playing outside, best friends because they are neighbors. I realize this was supposed to be a "hick suberb," but even hick suburban kids have computers. Holm should have placed her story in another error; it would have seemed more realistic.

Secondly, the story itself just bothered me. Caleb remains too much a shadowy horror movie figure, and Penny's erotic dreams about him, while intriguing, become disturbing because they are never explored. Holm boarders on creating a great portrayal of a tomboy teetering on the brink of womanhood, but she never fleshes out this theme sufficiently. As for the mystery, I admit I fell for Holm's red herrings, but the actual culprit came so much out of left field that it was disappointing. The scary scene was too brief, and the ending on the whole seemed rushed, with so much left unexplained and Penny herself never really developing as a character.