The Crossbones by Patrick Carman

The Crossbones by Patrick Carman is the third book in The Skeleton Creek Series. The story is told through Ryan McCray's journal and Sarah Fincher's videos, just like the first two books in the series. After finding the hidden gold in the floorboards of the old gold dredge in their small town, Sarah and her family moved to Boston while Ryan's family stayed in Skeleton Creek and opened a fly fishing shop/guide operation. But, Ryan has held onto a secret since the night of their discovery: he found a mysterious envelope in the pocket of the man who had embodied Old Joe Bush's ghost and terrorized them. Henry ran off before the police arrived, but the note was left behind. The note was a set of encrypted directions to four different haunted places all over the United Stated. He and Sarah hatched a plan to visit these places, find the clues the note described, and solve yet another mystery involving the strange group, the Crossbones. Their timing was perfect because Sarah was scheduled to attend film school in California. As she drove across the country on her way to film school, she stopped by all of the locations in the message, finding video after video of The Apostle, a known member of The Crossbones. All four clues led to an amazing find right back in Skeleton Creek - this time, it was Ryan's turn to investigate. At every turn, both kids are plagued by the three remaining members of the original Crossbones group: The Raven, the ghost, and the Apostle, and the danger is getting more and more real!

This was probably my favorite of the three books! I really felt like I was in Ryan's shoes as he stayed at home anxiously awaiting Sarah's video uploads as she investigated the haunted places. I loved the way the story branched out to include unsolved hauntings and mysteries from around the U.S. It reminded me a bit of the 39 Clues Series by the end, because of the seemingly endless hunt for more information to solve the mystery of The Crossbones.

Walk Softly, Rachel by Kate Banks

Walk Softly, Rachel by Kate Banks is about fourteen year old Rachel. When she was 7, Rachel's older brother Jake died. Ever since, her family has kept his room exactly the same - complete with all of his track medals and trophies and personal items. Rachel is struggling with the loss of her best friend Adrien, who moved to Africa with his family. As a result, she goes into Jake's room to try to connect with him. She finds his journal and begins reading. The rest of the story goes back and forth between what's happening in Rachel's world and what was happening in Jake's world just before his death. Both share their innermost thoughts, feelings, and struggles. Through reading his journal, Rachel learns a lot about her brother, her family, and herself.

This was an interesting story. It really focused on the inner-struggles of teenaged boys and girls. I especially liked the way the author found ways to connect what was happening in Rachel's life with what had happened in Jake's life, shared through the journal.

Ghost in the Machine by Patrick Carman

Ghost in the Machine by Patrick Carman is the sequel to Skeleton Creek. In this book Ryan and Sarah continue working together to solve the mystery of the dredge and the mysterious secret society, The Crossbones. Ryan is still recovering from his injury at the dredge that he sustained just before the first book takes place. He tells the story of his and Sarah's escapades through his journal, while Sarah tells it through videos she emails to Ryan, using secret codes. Between the two of them, they put together several different clues which lead them to a very secret meeting of the remaining members of The Crossbones. Of course, Sarah sneaks in to the meeting place and sets up a camera! What they learn sends them back into the dredge, one final time before the town burns it down. Little did they know, they wouldn't be the only ones visiting the dredge that night, seeking the secrets of The Crossbones.

I liked this book just as much as the first, Skeleton Creek. I love the way the author tells the story through Ryan's journal and Sarah's movies. I was able to download all of Sarah's videos from iTunes (for free!) so I could watch them on my iPod when it was time in the story. This helped my enjoyment of the book a lot. When I read Skeleton Creek, I'd have to stop reading and find a computer to watch the videos at http://sarahfincher.com. Having the videos on my iPod made it portable! It is definitely necessary to watch the videos as they appear in the book - they are vital to your understanding of the story.

The Mystery of the Fool and the Vanisher by David and Ruth Ellwand

The Mystery of the Fool and the Vanisher by David and Ruth Ellwand is a story within a story. It begins with the journal of David, a photographer who finds something exceptional as he explores the English Down. As he's wandering through the deep forest, he comes upon an old dwelling. Inside he finds a mysterious trunk. David claims the trunk and takes it back to his studio. There are many wonderous things inside the trunks - stones with circles through the middle, masks, journals and drawings by Isaac Wilde, glasses with the circle stones inside, and an ancient audio recording from the person who originally packed the trunk. David sends the recording off to a person who has an antique phonograph and receives a CD of the recording in the mail. From this point, the book follows the audio diary of Isaac Wilde, a photographer who was asked to take pictures of an archaeological dig in 1889. This is where he found everything within the trunk. The locals believed the hill where the dig was taking place was haunted by pixies and spirits. Many of them were angry with the archaeologists for disturbing it. Isaac was able to use the stories from the locals and the amazing artifacts he found to see some of the pixies! Needless to say, no one believed him. So, he set out to photograph one of the pixies using a special plate of film that could not be tampered with nor copied. But... things went wrong.

This was one of the best books I've ever read!! I loved how it was structured - it looked like a non-fiction book! The pictures and artifacts on each page supporting the journals were amazing and really added to the experience of getting inside the mind of Isaac Wilde. After reading this book I am more of a believer in the world of fairy. Totally awesome!!!

Skeleton Creek by Patrick Carman

excerpt from pg. 179 - "It appears that I'll be sneaking out of the house tonight to see the one person my parents have forbidden me to associate with. The two of us will wander off into the woods at 1:00 in the morning and cut through a chain so we can break into a condemned structure before they born it down. And, meanwhile, her camera will be feeding the footage back to her website so that if we don't come back, the authorities can -- what was her phase? -- oh, yeah -- find our bodies."

Skeleton Creek by Patrick Carman is about Ryan and Sarah, best friends who have a history of getting into dangerous situations. Just recently, Ryan and Sarah were exploring an old, abandoned mining dredge near their small Oregon town, and Ryan was seriously injured. Sarah, an amateur videographer, continues going back to the dredge with her video camera, searching for the strange "thing" they saw the night they were there. Ryan is stuck in his hospital bed (then later his bed at home) with a shattered leg, so he begins recording his experiences in his journal. The story is told through Ryan's journal and Sarah's videos. Through the pages of the book and the videos available at sarahfincher.com (with passwords found throughout the book), the mystery of what really happened to them and why unfolds. The last part of the story is told entirely through Sarah's video camera as a "live feed" of their last visit to the dredge in the middle of the night.

I thought this was a really interesting concept - merging a book with videos to support the story. It was fun reading Ryan's thoughts and going to the computer to see Sarah's ideas. I enjoyed this book a lot! The ending was creepy! It definitely made me think about what would happen next. I would not recommend reading this book if you can't watch the videos along with it. The videos are an intregal part of the story and help the reader fill in the gaps of the story. The final video is vital. Cool idea - good book! The next book in this series comes out in October of 2009. Also, for you 39 Clues Series fans, this author (Patrick Carman) wrote the 5th book in that series, The Black Circle, coming out in August of 2009.