Review of It Found Us by Lindsay Currie

 

Twelve-year-old Hazel Woods has always had an unusual knack for sleuthing. Some may call it snooping, but all she really wants is to solve mysteries around town. So, when she not-so-accidentally overhears her brother Den planning to sneak into the cemetery at night for an epic game of hide-and-seek, she decides to secretly tag along. This seems like the perfect opportunity to investigate the claims that the cemetery is haunted.

But the moment the game ends, Hazel realizes something is very, very wrong. From her hiding spot in the bushes, she overhears that her brother’s best friend, Everett, is missing. Everyone else was found by the seeker but there’s no sign of Everett anywhere. It’s as if he just . . . vanished

Hazel and Den are determined to find Everett before it’s too late. But as they begin to unravel the terrifying clues that started appearing since that night in the graveyard–eerie whispers that sound like someone counting, the intermittent smell of smoke, and the cold, lost presence that follows them everywhere, she’s not sure what they are dealing with. But Everett needs more than search parties and scent-tracking dogs to find him, especially if his disappearance is tied to the history of the cemetery, and the lost, century-old spirits that might still be trapped there.

I am a huge fan of Lindsay Currie so I couldn't wait to get my hands on this one! I was saving it for spooky season but I really wanted to dive in earlier. 

Hazel loves being what she thinks is a detective but what others might call a snoop and when she listens in on her brothers phone call with his friend and learns he is going to sneak out she follows. 

They end up at the graveyard where Den and his friends are going to play hide and seek except something happens while they are there a freak storm, some eerie yowling, a scream and Den's friend Everett is gone. 

Hazel and Den don't want to leave looking for Everett up to the adults so they decide to do some investigating, even though they are told to stay home. They sneak back to the graveyard were another spooky storm happens and they see a very spooky looking kid with no eyes and it's mouth sewn shut, they hightail it home but the ghost will not be deterred and follows them home. 

Now things are getting really scary and Hazel's friend Maggie gets in on things and they start trying to figure out who the ghost is and what he wants and why it took Everett. 

This was a great ghost story with lots of spooky elements. I love how the author uses a tragic part of history and weaves a ghostly tale around it so that I learned about a part of history that I didn't know about. I was so curious about the elephants in the graveyard and love that the authors tells you about things at the end in the authors note. I even found a non-fiction book about what happened in that town and I am curious to give it a try. 

I think my only negative thing about this book is the cover. I just think it's to spooky for a middle grade book. It will creep out most adults! Other than that it's another great book by the author! Still not my favorite but probably my second favorite. :) 

5 stars