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mackle13's review against another edition
3.0
I picked this up on something of a whim one day at the library. I was browsing around, not really sure what I was looking for, when the cover caught my eye. Being that crossroads are elements of lots of supernatural stories, and creepy trees are always good, and the blurb sounded interesting, I decided to give it a go.
At first I was a little tured off by the simple, straight-forward writing. I know it's an MG book and all, but even books written for the 9-12 set can have some embellishment, ya know?
But as I settled into the story it bothered me less. It even worked in some regards to help with the suspense in that it didn't try to sell you on the suspense, it just set things out as they were. In other senses, though, the characters never felt entirely real and I never felt fully engaged. Interested, yes, but not pulled into the story.
Anyway - to the characters. I liked Judy a lot. The not-wicked step-mother to offset a truly terrible mother, who helped Zack in a lot of ways. I also liked that, when confronted with an indisputable ghost sighting she was a believer and started looking into more. While I understand a healthy dose of skepticism, I get tired of people in books and shows confronted with obvious supernatural things only to patently refuse to believe them. It can be very annoying.
I liked the pairing of Zack and Davy, though I felt the author tried a little too hard with Davy (and Clint, for that matter) to emulate the slang of their time period.
It had moments of suspense and tension, of pathos and charm, and a bit of adventure. Overall it was a pretty decent story, probably just the right amount of scary for some kids - though perhaps not enough for some others - almost more of an adventure story than a true horror one. And perhaps a mystery story, as Judy had to piece together the story of Clint and Gerda and get to the truth of what happened.
Speaking of Clint and Gerda, my biggest complaint, perhaps, is that they both started off kind of intimidating, in their own ways, but both became more cartoonish and ridiculous as the story progressed. I would've liked a bit more depth to all of the characters, and a lot less slapsticky over-the-topness from these two in particular.
Might not be something that would bother younger readers, though, and I think they'll enjoy the overall spookiness, but not terror, of the story.
At first I was a little tured off by the simple, straight-forward writing. I know it's an MG book and all, but even books written for the 9-12 set can have some embellishment, ya know?
But as I settled into the story it bothered me less. It even worked in some regards to help with the suspense in that it didn't try to sell you on the suspense, it just set things out as they were. In other senses, though, the characters never felt entirely real and I never felt fully engaged. Interested, yes, but not pulled into the story.
Anyway - to the characters. I liked Judy a lot. The not-wicked step-mother to offset a truly terrible mother, who helped Zack in a lot of ways. I also liked that, when confronted with an indisputable ghost sighting she was a believer and started looking into more. While I understand a healthy dose of skepticism, I get tired of people in books and shows confronted with obvious supernatural things only to patently refuse to believe them. It can be very annoying.
I liked the pairing of Zack and Davy, though I felt the author tried a little too hard with Davy (and Clint, for that matter) to emulate the slang of their time period.
It had moments of suspense and tension, of pathos and charm, and a bit of adventure. Overall it was a pretty decent story, probably just the right amount of scary for some kids - though perhaps not enough for some others - almost more of an adventure story than a true horror one. And perhaps a mystery story, as Judy had to piece together the story of Clint and Gerda and get to the truth of what happened.
Speaking of Clint and Gerda, my biggest complaint, perhaps, is that they both started off kind of intimidating, in their own ways, but both became more cartoonish and ridiculous as the story progressed. I would've liked a bit more depth to all of the characters, and a lot less slapsticky over-the-topness from these two in particular.
Might not be something that would bother younger readers, though, and I think they'll enjoy the overall spookiness, but not terror, of the story.
libraryjen's review
2.0
This is a really hard book for me to rate. It's marketed toward middle grade (ages 9-12) and the main character is 10 years old, but there's some really heavy themes and the book gets pretty intense. The writing was, of course, fabulous, and the plot was twisty and fun, but overall the book was incredibly dark for a middle grade audience. Now, I'm definitely not one for dumbing things down for kids, but if you introduce a heavy theme in a children's book, you really do need to deal with it and explore it enough for the reader to have some kind of resolution. Without giving spoilers, the concept of mental illness and depression and the issue of child abuse (verbal, not psychical or sexual) are all brought up repeatedly, but never actually dealt with, in this book. That just didn't work for me, even though the mystery was fun.
I admit, I was a bit disappointed. I have loved everything else I've read by Grabenstein but this one just missed the mark.
I admit, I was a bit disappointed. I have loved everything else I've read by Grabenstein but this one just missed the mark.
wordnerd153's review against another edition
3.0
A tad hard to follow in the beginning because of all the characters and jumping between their stories, but once it was clear how everything was connected the plot picked up speed and I couldn't put the book down.
lizdesole's review against another edition
4.0
Cute middle grade ghost/ murder mystery story. I preread it for my kids and thought it was just creepy enough. Not babyish and not over the top. Just right for 12 year old who likes scary but not too graphic
labraden's review against another edition
4.0
The Crossroads is a scary book about a boy named Zach whose family moves into his father's hometown in order to start a new life. Their new house is located right in the crossroads of the town where a bus accident in 1958 took the lives of all but one of the passengers. Zach makes friends with Davy, a boy who lives on a farm nearby and begins to feel that their move might work out, but Zach's stepmother starts to research some of the strange incidents that begin occurring in and around the crossroads. This is a really creepy story that should interest anyone who likes scary mysteries.
under_the_ferns's review
2.0
2.5 stars - It's a decent combo of Grabenstein's typical humor and goofy characters but this just wasn't my thing. Audiobook reader is decent.
I can think of some kids right away who would enjoy this book even if it wasn't for me.
I can think of some kids right away who would enjoy this book even if it wasn't for me.
sunflower1812's review against another edition
3.0
I first read this book in elementary school, but it was still pretty enjoyable years later. It's a solid mystery that was suspenseful enough to keep me reading; the horror aspects were intense, but I think still appropriate for the intended audience. I particularly enjoyed Zack's sweet relationship with his stepmother, and I thought the book touched on grief and abuse in a way that felt real and important to the story. Obviously, this book is meant for children, so I didn't like the humor and writing as much as I did before, but it was still a good read.
library_brandy's review
2.0
Definitely not what I was hoping for. It's not as creepy as Booklist & SLJ wanted me to believe, for starters. Our main character is supposed to be 11 but reads about 8, and the rest of the characters are straight out of central casting. Brief chapters are probably supposed to increase suspense but instead just break up the story into choppy fragments.
It doesn't really go out in my library, and now I know why.
It doesn't really go out in my library, and now I know why.
bellachang's review against another edition
5.0
This was such a great book. I really enjoyed it. When I first started it I thought that it would be to boyish or it would be boring, but the whole time I was really into it and really enjoyed it.