Cursed Grounds

March 15, 2011
Grades 4-6 Were in the midst of a supernatural nonfiction book rush, but few are as genuinely hair-raising as the Scary Places series. As with the publishers similarly creepy HorrorScapes series, the high-interest text is ideal for reluctant readers, with each two-page spread focusing on a single horrifying habitat. While not especially sophisticated, the layout is nonetheless effective, with cunning integration of stock art, photographs, period illustrations, gritty textures, andscarier than anything elsethe prevalent use of grainy snapshots showing the interiors of various abandoned buildings and cellars. Cursed Grounds digs deep for some strange ones: Utahs Highway 191, Australias Babinda Creek, and even Chicagos Wrigley Field. Boxed factoids (or folklore) ratchet up the thrills throughout, and a map and glossary cap off the fine back matter.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2011, American Library Association.)