The Bellwoods Game

by Celia Krampien, Celia Krampien (Illustrator)

Overview

Perfect for fans of Doll Bones and Hocus Pocus, this “beautifully creepy” (Kirkus Reviews), highly illustrated middle grade novel follows a girl who hopes to fix her outcast status through a game in the haunted woods, only to discover that some legends shouldn’t be played with.

Everyone knows Fall Hollow is haunted. It has been ever since Abigail Snook went into the woods many years ago, never to be seen again. Since then, it’s tradition for the sixth graders at Beckett Elementary to play the Bellwoods Game on Halloween night. Three kids are chosen to go into the woods. Whoever rings the bell there wins the game and saves the town for another year, but if Abigail’s ghost captures the players first, the spirit is let loose to wreak havoc on Fall Hollow—or so the story goes.

Now that it’s Bailee’s year to play, she can finally find out what really happens. And legend has it the game’s winner gets a wish. Maybe, just maybe, if Bailee wins, she can go back to the way things used to be before her grandma got sick and everyone at school started hating her. But when the night begins, everything the kids thought they knew about the game—and each other—is challenged. One thing’s for sure: something sinister is at play…waiting for them all in the woods.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781665912525
Publisher:	Atheneum Books for Young Readers
Publication date:	07/18/2023
Sold by:	SIMON & SCHUSTER
Format:	eBook
Pages:	320
File size:	69 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.
Age Range:	8 - 12 Years

About the Author

Celia Krampien grew up in a house in the woods in a small town near Owen Sound, Ontario, Canada. She studied illustration at Sheridan College and currently lives in St. Catharines, Ontario, with her partner, a mischievous cat, and a nosy beagle. She is the author of The Bellwoods Game.

Read an Excerpt

Chapter 1: Halloween, Some Time Later

Editorial Reviews

07/31/2023

On Halloween 1982, sixth grader Abigail Snook vanished from the Bellwoods while playing a game with her bully. As October 31 approaches in present-day Fall Hollow, the sixth graders of Beckett Elementary are preoccupied with that legend, which annually lures a group of classmates into the forest to play the Bellwoods Game. Horror fan Bailee Heron would rather stay home with her beloved Nan than head into the woods, but she decides that playing is the only way to clear up a misunderstanding that ostracized her from her class. According to the legend, Abigail’s spirit reappears in the forest each year on the anniversary of her vanishing; per tradition, three tweens must play the game to its end in order to help her rest and save the town from chaos. The player who first rings an old bell in the woods banishes the spirit for another annum, but anyone caught by the spirit who lacks a gift to trade will be forced to sacrifice something truly dear. Once the game begins, however, Bailee realizes that the stories belie the game’s complexity. Krampien (Sunny) intersperses atmospherically eerie b&w art throughout a tense friendship novel steeped in local lore. Bailee presents as white; secondary characters suggest racial diversity. Ages 8–12. Agent: Andrea Morrison, Writers House. (July)

Publishers Weekly

*An Indigo Kids September Staff Pick*

*A July/August 2023 Indie Next Pick*

*A Junior Library Guild Selection*

From the Publisher

"Krampien’s eerie story cleverly focuses on themes such as bullying . . . This supernatural tale will chill readers while reminding them that real friendship can brave any situation."

Booklist

Caitlin Kelly provides a spookily entertaining yet tender rendering of this middle-grade story about courage, friendship, and the power of stories. Every Halloween, Beckett Elementary's sixth-grade students engage in the chillingly serious Bellwoods game. If they win, the town will be safe for a year; if not, a vengeful ghost will torment them all. In a clear, youthful voice, Kelly describes Bailee Heron, who courageously volunteers to play the game despite worries about her family and insecurity about her ability to succeed. Kelly skillfully shows Bailee's character growth as she moves from tentative to confident, making heroic choices for her community, despite the cost to herself. Kelly's portrayal of the genuinely creepy specter in the woods adds to the spine-tingling pleasure of this ghostly coming-of-age story. S.A.H. © AudioFile 2023, Portland, Maine

SEPTEMBER 2023 -- AudioFile

2023-04-24
Sixth grader Bailee Heron must win a ghostly game to keep her town, her family, and herself from losing everything.

On Halloween in 1982, sixth grader Abigail Snook disappeared in the Bellwoods forest behind Beckett Elementary. Now, every Halloween, Beckett’s sixth graders have to play the Bellwoods Game, or her ghost will terrorize the town for the next year. If she catches you, and you don’t have a gift to sacrifice, the ghost will take something else—like your tongue. But if you manage to ring the old bell in the woods first, you’ll banish her for another year, and she’ll give you anything you want. Bailee, lover of all things horror, just wants things to go back to normal. Ever since the factory closed two years ago, her parents have worked long hours to make ends meet, often leaving Nan and Bailee alone. Then Nan got sick at the same time a vicious rumor ostracized Bailee from the rest of the class. Winning the game is Bailee’s only chance to set things right, but she soon learns everything is not as it seems in the town of Fall Hollow, where stories are weapons, friends come from strange places, and Abigail Snook isn’t the scariest thing hiding among the trees. This gorgeously illustrated, atmospheric, and evocative debut captures the fun of being scared and the hard truths of middle school. Bailee presents White; names and illustrations point to some racial diversity in secondary characters.

Beautifully creepy. (Supernatural. 9-13)

Kirkus Reviews