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.)

July 1, 2016
Plagued by dreams of being a wolf, Emmy worries that she is responsible for a spate of brutal animal attacks. Meanwhile, she becomes involved in an unsolved robbery when she and her friends find a money-filled briefcase in the woods. Though the classic horror tropes hold some appeal, the writing feels juvenile and the two major plot lines barely overlap.

(Copyright 2016 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)