Title: Freeze
Author: Chris Priestley
Illustrator: Chris Priestley
Publisher: Barrington Stoke
Genre: Older children’s/middle grade fiction
Book format: Paperback
Sweet Strawberries: 
Description: When Maya and her classmates are asked to write winter-themed creepy stories, they come up with some brilliantly spooky ideas. Rising flood waters uncover long-buried bodies and ghostly children take to the ice on a frozen canal.
But when a mysterious new girl stands up to read her story, the light begins to dim and the classroom grows colder and colder. Can Maya stop the story and save them before they all FREEZE?
*Free copy provided by publisher for review…
Review: Oh wow, how incredibly creepy! When Maya and her friends get to class they have a lesson creating scary winter themed stories. But when her friends start to read out their stories to the class, Maya finds the stories too real and feels like she’s experiencing them herself. But what is happening to Maya and does it have anything to do with the new girl in the silver coat with a fur-trimmed hood?
This is such a brilliant and creepy tale and one which I really enjoyed reading. There is a great and eerie vibe and there are illustrations that really add to the creepy of the story! Each of Maya’s friends ends up reading out a story, each story taking on a sinister and scary twist. I like what happens to Maya and the others in the story and just how eerie things ends up. Each story features some really creepy creatures and what ends up happening in the story is a brilliant mix of some really scary things.
The story doesn’t just feature a few scary stories though, there is something that ties them all together and towards the end when we finally learn more about the new girl in class, it’s then that things really turn eerie! I enjoyed reading this book, it’s been a long time since I read some truly scary stories aimed at children and this book really does put you in that mood of feeling that creepy vibe throughout. The story May tells about Jack Frost as well as the last one called ‘Winter’ were definitely my favourites and I enjoyed how this book ends with a satisfying but spooky twist.
The book has a few illustrations dotted around among the story and each one is so brilliant! Although the writing is enough to set the atmosphere of the overall story and the individual stories the kids are reading out in class, these illustrations, each in black, white and grey really do add a more creepy and scary tone to each individual tale! I was especially creeped out by that Jack Frost illustration at the start of that story, it looked more scary than it sounded, setting the mood for that tale so well!
The book is dyslexia friendly and has thick pages yellow/creamy pages to make it easier to read as well as a special font, larger letters and spaced out paragraphs which all go to making it easier to read for dyslexics and anyone with visual problems. The book is also not too long at just a little over 100 pages and so is perfect for any reluctant readers too. Despite being aimed at dyslexics, this book is so good and creepy that I’d recommend it to everyone to read. While the stories aren’t as scary as some adult versions, these really are creepy and eerie and honestly made me feel a little spooked to be in a dark and cold room after I finished reading!
What do you think of this book? Do you like spooky or creepy reads? Let me know what you think in the comments below 🙂
The Strawberry Post 