The Peculiar Incident on Shady Street

July 15, 2017
A preteen overcomes fear to solve a century-old mystery.Tessa Woodward and her family have moved from warm, sunny Florida to chilly, gray Chicago. It's bad enough that she had to leave behind her best friend and beloved beach, but as soon as the white girl moves into the eerie, rambling Victorian on Shady Street, myriad unexplainable things begin to happen. Lights flicker and doors lock on their own; mysterious crying and phantom footsteps echo throughout the house in the middle of the night; perfectly executed drawings appear in artist Tessa's sketchbook; and her 4-year-old brother's perennially creepy ventriloquist dummy cries actual tears. There can be no other explanation: this house is haunted. Who, or more likely what, has targeted Tessa, and why? The terrified seventh-grader enlists her new friends--skeptic Andrew and graveyard expert Nina, both evidently white--to follow a trail of clues in order to find out what happened in the house on Shady Street all those years ago. Refreshingly, Tessa isn't an angry kid determined to make her parents' lives miserable in retaliation for uprooting her from the familiar. Instead, she resolves to make the best of things and to take her free-spirited parents' advice that she keep her eyes wide open and explore the unknown. And that she does. Shivers aplenty; just the ticket for a cold autumn night. (Paranormal mystery. 8-13)

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August 1, 2017

Gr 4-6-Tessa is wildly disappointed that her family has to relocate from Florida to Chicago right before the start of seventh grade. Despite the hardship of leaving sunny weather and her best friend behind, she determines to support her dad in his new job and tries to acclimate to her surroundings. Immediately after moving into their ramshackle older home, strange things begin happening. Crying is heard in the night, the house turns icy cold, and her brother's ventriloquist dummy appears to be shedding real tears. Tessa confides in a few welcoming classmates, and together they work to uncover exactly what is going on in the house on Shady Street and who, or what, is reaching out to Tessa. Their research includes fact-finding missions to the library and a graveyard, where some strange weather patterns make for a terrifying time. Balancing goose bump-inducing frights with relatable scenes of the friends navigating middle school, sibling relationships, and family issues makes the book scary but not horrific. Tessa, like her mother, is an artist and seeing events through her creative perspective adds an interesting element to the narrative. VERDICT. Give this page-turner to readers seeking a spooky thrill reminiscent of books by Mary Downing Hahn and filled with strong family relationships, budding friendships, a local history, mystery, and creepiness.-Sara-Jo Lupo Sites, George F. Johnson Memorial Library, Endicott, NY

Copyright 2017 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Sean - This interesting book is called The Peculiar Incident on Shady Street . It was written by Lindsay Currie. It was written in 2017. I thought it was the best book ever because of the interesting ,scary,and amazing settings. Tessa moved to Chicago and she hated it. The streets smelled like sewer.That night there was crying and footsteps.At School, she met Andrew,Richie, and Nina who said’’ it might be Inez Clark’’. So then they investigated.They figured out something in the end that you have to read it to find out . I believe that the that the best part was when they were in the graveyard. And they when to Inez’s grave.Then it got dark. Then there was crying and fog. They were running for the gate and Nini went missing into the fog. I thought the setting was amazing. I think this because a house on Shady Street that used to be a graveyard in Chicago.The windy city.There is so much to explore there. In that wonderful place where all the amazing things are. I strongly believe that the amazing setting and awesome city was a good choice .I recommend the people that like ghosts and mystery.