Field of Screams

Solid but lacking distinctive flair. 

Armed with her copy of Heart-Stopping Heartland Hauntings, paranormal-obsessed 12-year-old Rebecca Graff travels with her mother from Chicago to Iowa to stay with Rebecca's uncle Jon and his family in the same place her late--and rarely discussed--father spent his summers. Though she's not thrilled to be away from her best friend, Rebecca hopes that she'll finally encounter a ghost while exploring her eerie rural surroundings, especially when she learns that her dad was also fascinated by all things supernatural. Following an unsettling experience in an abandoned nearby farmhouse, Rebecca becomes convinced that there is a ghostly presence trying to communicate with her and determines to uncover the spirit's secrets despite jeers from mean girl Kelsie, whose family owns the dilapidated property. The discovery of a creepy photograph and diary from the early 1900s, as well as her dad's notes on his own spectral encounters, sets the tween on an expedition to unravel the mystery with the assistance of cute local boy Nick. Though some story elements feel overly convenient, Rebecca's desire for connection to the father she barely knew--particularly in her emotionally withdrawn mother's absence--lends a note of poignancy to the steadily paced scares in Parris's atmospheric debut. Characters default to white. Ages 8-12. Agent: Karyn Fischer, BookStop Literary. (Aug.)

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Praise for Field of Screams

"Chilling, thrilling, and full of heart! Field of Screams is a perfect book for young readers who like their scares accompanied by family mystery, abandoned houses, and the best maybe-a-ghost cat ever."—Kiersten White, #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Sinister Summer series

"Full of nail-biting scenes, mysterious atmosphere, and clever scares . . . I couldn't put it down!"—Lindsay Currie, author of The Girl in White and Scritch Scratch

"Haunted barn? Creepy cat? Yes please! But Field of Screams is so much more than a ghost story. It has as much heart as it does hauntings, and by the time I turned the last page, I found myself not wanting to say goodbye to these characters."—Lorien Lawrence, author of the Fright Watch series

"Field of Screams is a gripping mystery wrapped inside a ghost story and rooted in realistic characters dealing with honest emotions. Set among shadowy rows of corn and lonesome farmland, Parris's tale whispers forth a crackling, heat-choked atmosphere, and tension materializes like static before the most wicked of summer storms. My advice: sip an icy glass of lemonade while devouring this morsel of a spooky tale. Goosebumps guaranteed!"—Dan Poblocki, author of Tales to Keep You Up at Night