Tuesday, March 3, 2009

Suddenly Supernatural: Scaredy Kat by Elizabeth Cody Kimmel

Scaredy Kat is the second book in the Suddenly Supernatural series; the first book was School Spirit. I didn't read School Spirit, but I still enjoyed Scaredy Kat. I did not feel like I was behind on the story at all.
Scaredy Kat takes place over Kat's spring break from school. She has recently turned thirteen, and with her thirteenth birthday she came in to her supernatural ability to see and communicate with spirits. When this book opens Kat has already had some experience dealing with ghosts. Now she's by herself on spring break, her best friend Jac off at a music conference, and she becomes interested in the abandoned house next door. She takes a few pictures of it, but when she loads them on to her computer, she sees something that wasn't there before: a boy looking out from one of the windows. When Kat decides to investigate, she realizes that sometimes spirits can be really scary.
I really enjoyed reading this book, and it seems like it will be a fun series. Kimmel does a great job of creating suspense for the reader. This is one of those books where almost every chapter ends in a way that makes it almost impossible to stop reading. And it is set up nicely for the next ghostly encounter in the next book. I liked the fact that even while Kat was dealing with the spirit world, she and her best friend were also dealing with being thirteen. They both had to make decisions about being their own person and relying on themselves rather than on their parents. The only difficulty I had with the book was that I felt it went into more detail about some of the supernatural stuff than was entirely necessary. Younger kids might have a hard time understanding all of the spirit world speak, like "energy work" and auras. But it's hard to say whether or not the story could be told without that. So it's a minor complaint.
This was a fun read, and would be enjoyed by older kids and middle schoolers.

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