Can You Keep a Secret?

February 1, 2016
Grades 6-9 Stine's fourth title in the highly successful Fear Street reboot takes us straight to the pet cemetery, where Emmy's volatile boyfriend, Eddie, is a gravedigger. One night, Eddie, Emmy, and four of their friends gather in the Fear Street woods for an overnight camping trip, and Eddie and Emmy uncover a bag stuffed with hundred-dollar bills hidden in a tree trunk. Eddie convinces the group to let him bury the money in the pet cemetery, with the plan that after a suitable time passes, they'll divide it among themselves. Meanwhile, Emmy is haunted by dreams of a bloodthirsty blue-eyed black wolfand then such a wolf appears in the woods, attacking both dogs and humans. It may be formulaic, but it sure is fun, with every chapter ending with a hook. There are jump scares galore, secret identities, and Stine's patented delicious final line. Stine goes straight for the nose in this one: the sour, putrid odors of decay in the cemetery and elsewhere lend a marvelous creepy flavor in which horror fans will delight.HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: This is currently Stine's flagship series, which means it will end up on the plates of all the hungriest horror hounds.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)