Paranormal enthusiast Rebecca Graff isn’t happy about being dragged to Iowa to spend the summer with family she barely knows. But when she tracks a ghostly presence to an abandoned farmhouse, she starts to think the summer won’t be a total lost cause!
The trouble is no one believes her. Then Rebecca finds a note stashed in a comic belonging to her late father—a note that proves the same spirit haunted him when he was twelve. Suddenly she feels a connection to the dad she pretends not to miss, and she is determined to uncover the story behind the haunting.
But the more Rebecca discovers, the scarier the ghost becomes. Soon she is in a race to piece together the puzzle and recover a family legacy before it is lost forever and a horrible tragedy repeats itself.
The second-to-last book on my “summery” TBR is Wendy Parris’s middle grade horror novel, FIELD OF SCREAMS!
Rebecca Graff is a spooky kid (relatable). She stays up late watching horror movies and has an obsession with all things ghost-related. She keeps her heart and eyes wide open for any sign of the paranormal, but so far…no luck.
Rebecca’s father sadly passed away when she was only six, so it’s been just her and her Mom since then. And in an effort to kind of break them out of a rut, Rebecca’s mother has decided they’ll be spending the summer in Iowa.
Rebecca’s not thrilled. Her plan was to head off to summer camp with her best friend Jenna, for their last summer before seventh grade. But Rebecca and her Mom make the trip from Chicago to Iowa, where they’ll be staying with family in an old farmhouse.
Rebecca’s Aunt Sylvie is pregnant & getting close to her due date, so Rebecca is going to be helping by babysitting her little cousin, Justin. Rebecca’s mom, meanwhile, has set up a little office in the barn to work on her writing.
Some strange & spooky things begin to happen, which leads Rebecca to begin following a series of clues, some of which were left behind by her father when he was a boy. So there’s this really sweet connection that happens across the years, and Rebecca feels close to her father in a whole new way. Rebecca’s mom doesn’t exactly love Rebecca’s fondness for the supernatural, so this retroactive/posthumous bond with her father is really special.
The setting here is such an integral & spooky part of the story…the cornfields surrounding the property & rustling in the breeze, the crumbling abandoned farmhouse down the road, the attic that’s been declared firmly off limits.
And what about that mysterious one-eyed cat who always seems to be luring Rebecca towards one creepy discovery after another?
Rebecca is such a great protagonist, someone I was rooting for from the start. She’s been through a lot but shows a tremendous amount of resilience. Her summer vacation has been completely upended, she’s navigating new & complex friendships with a couple kids she meets in Iowa, her and her mom are coping with grief in very different ways, and yeah, THERE IS A FREAKING GHOST TO WORRY ABOUT! I especially loved how instead of being sullen and salty about being asked to babysit her little cousin all summer, she takes a lot of pride in it & really enjoys spending time with Justin.
This was awesome! Just the right amount of spooky, mixed with a captivating family mystery, and a really enjoyable cast of characters. There’s something about the rustic, midwestern setting that really made this book feel special. I’m excited to check out Parris’s second book, STAGE FRIGHT!
Grimdark Dad 