The Skeleton Creek Duology
by Patrick Carman
In the Skeleton Creek duology, best friends Ryan McCray and Sarah Fincher team up to investigate the mysterious goings-on at an old mining dredge in their town. The story is told in Ryan’s journal, in which he records his thoughts and his correspondence with Sarah; and in Sarah’s films, creepy Blair Witch-style videos that are accessible on the Internet using passwords given in the text. Before I go any further, I should say that Skeleton Creek is not fantasy and is better categorized as mystery. Read the rest.
I’m really NOT a fan of the multimedia addition to books. However, I’ve been interested in trying out this series – although Carman seems to be a mixed bag. I loved Atherton but not his first series.
My daughter (11) came home from school one afternoon begging me to visit the website for Skeleton Creek. She’d gotten the code from a friend at school to watch the related video. Though not my thing, it certainly had her excited. :-)
I think books like these are good to pull in reluctant readers. A lot of kids don’t like to read. I’m thankful my daughter is not one of those. She’s completely obsessed with books just as I am and my mother.
Glad to hear it! :) Yeah, I could definitely see stuff like this drawing in kids who wouldn’t ordinarily get enthused over books. It does feel kind of like you’re trying to piece it together along with the heroes, and the videos work well with the concept.
I do think this is one of those series that is best appreciated by the target age group, rather than one of those books that translates just as well to an adult audience. But there’s nothing wrong with that :)