Carman, Patrick. Skeleton Creek. Scholastic. Feb. 2009. ISBN: 978-0-545-07566-4. Gr 5–8.

-- School Library Journal, 3/18/2009

Skeleton Creek is about a boy named Ryan trapped in his room after an accident that happened while he and his movie-making friend, Sarah, were examining a dredge. Now he's in bed with a broken leg and forbidden to see Sarah, while she continues the investigation with her video camera. She's stumbling on to a covered-up accident in their small-time town involving a mysterious death, a secret society, and a ghost.

The book is split between the actual text and some online videos made by Sarah. The best part of the book was definitely the split format. The videos were cheesy at first, but the actual footage seemed pretty realistic. The stories went together pretty well, with just the right amount of suspense. I would recommend not watching the videos at night if you scare easily; I jumped more than once. I think it's really cool that literature is expanding into alternate formats. Though I'll always prefer the printed word, it was interesting to read a book in multiple formats.

While the different formats were well done, the story didn't seem to go anywhere. The characters were similarly undeveloped. I couldn't really relate to either of the main characters, and it seemed like there were too many secondary characters to remember. However, the actual story was what kept me reading.

There were various "Easter Eggs" hidden on one of the Skeleton Creek sites that were fun to look for, and I enjoyed going to an elaborate fan site that tried to prove the book was a conspiracy. I think this idea for books could become a really cool thing. Also, though this book was supposedly written for 9- to 12-year-olds, I don't think it should be limited to that age range. I was scared and intrigued by it, and I’m 15.

The cover was definitely the reason I picked up the book. I usually don't read ghost stories, so Skeleton Creek is not a title I would typically pick up. The cover is a bunch of screenshots from online videos: a girl, a skeleton-type thing, and an old-time photo. It looked kinda cool and mysterious.—Elizabeth S., age 15