One for the wimps amongst us. Whilst I really enjoyed The Dead of Winter, it is fair to say that it did NOT end happily. However, Anne Fine's The Devil Walks has a very satisfying resolution. I enjoyed scary stories as an older child, but would not have coped well with one which ended without the evil being put to bed and a positive future ahead for the protagonaist. The Devil Walks would have suited me down to the ground. An interesting beginning, with lots of little mysteries weaved in to be solved. No scary happenings until towards the end of the book, which contains them and makes the book overall much less nerve-jangling. A scary sequence followed by the restoration of harmony.
This is a great book for transitioning a sensitive soul aged around 9+ into the darker and more macabre world of teenage fiction. The reader needs to be mature enough to cope with the death of the mother of the main character, and a slightly crazed uncle, with a reading age of approx 11 upwards. Also a good choice for reading aloud, although not necessarily at bedtime!
I am about to embark on The Crowfield Demon, which I have borrowed from our wonderful school library. Then I really must read something from another genre for young adults, as when I do my weekly "Mrs M recommends" during our reading slot in registration, I have had a few complaints of late that "Miss, you only ever read scary stories!"
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