For my book blog I will be reviewing The Haunting of Hillside School, from the Cabin Creek Mysteries series by Kristiana Gregory. This is a great mystery novel for young readers and for read alouds in classrooms for grades 3 to 5. This story is wonderfully written to engage readers in an easy to follow mystery and plot, while incorporating loads of descriptive language to create captivating imagery that truly makes you feel a part of the story. In this book it tells the story of three cousins- Claire, David, and Jeff trying to solve the mystery of whether or not their elementary school is haunted. It starts by Claire briefly seeing a pale-faced girl with braids appear in the window watching in on her art class. Her cousins suspect that it may be a ghost. Following the sight of the ‘ghost’, they also hear a piano playing music but their school doesn’t have a piano. They also smelt cinnamon or gingerbread baking, but their school doesn’t have a running kitchen anymore. The fearless cousins search in the school and bike across their small town to piece together clues to solve the mystery. Which leads to the discovery that Hillside school was actually an old mansion that used to be owned by a rich family, and that a young girl died there a long time ago. Amongst all the suspicion and different twists in their adventure, they find out that there are some newcomers that want to tear down their school and build fancy condos, so solving this mystery becomes more crucial than ever. 

 

My favourite part of the book is once the mystery is finally solved and all the clues are put together, so you are no longer on the edge of your seat. I had one of my elementary school teachers read one of these stories to our class and we never wanted her to finish reading after each chapter. I also love the true sense of adventure you feel from the story and all the amazing imagery throughout the story, making you really feel like you’re in a cozy town during the autumn season. If you like The Haunting of Hillside School, then you will love The Legend of Skull Cliff. It is another intriguing, mystery book in the series that is also very popular and explores another mysterious area of the town of Cabin Creek.  

 

By Rheana Isaac