The Bellwoods Game by Celia Krampien [MG Review]

Summary 💬

Everyone knows Fall Hollow is haunted. It has been ever since Abigail Snook went into the woods many years ago, never to be seen again. Since then, it’s tradition for the sixth graders at Beckett Elementary to play the Bellwoods Game on Halloween night. Three kids are chosen to go into the woods. Whoever rings the bell there wins the game and saves the town for another year, but if Abigail’s ghost captures the players first, the spirit is let loose to wreak havoc on Fall Hollow—or so the story goes.

Now that it’s Bailee’s year to play, she can finally find out what really happens. And legend has it the game’s winner gets a wish. Maybe, just maybe, if Bailee wins, she can go back to the way things used to be before her grandma got sick and everyone at school started hating her. But when the night begins, everything the kids thought they knew about the game—and each other—is challenged. One thing’s for something sinister is at play…waiting for them all in the woods.

Goodreads

Review ✍🏻

Child’s Play

Set in a small town on Halloween night, The Bellwoods Game follows three sixth graders chosen to participate in Beckett Elementary’s tradition of ringing the bell in the woods in order to ensure their town’s protection for another year from the evil ghost who dwells within. It’s just a children’s game… or is it? I love this kind of plot, which brings childhood games and folklores to life. Only one other title comes to the top of mind (Daka Hermon’s Hide and Seeker), but surely there are others? It’sa great jumping off point for inventive speculative fiction.

Illustrations

The prologue kicks the story off with an intense start. I don’t think any part after that reaches the same pitch. The illustration on pg 11 gave me chills! Throughout the book, the author-illustrator Cellia Krampien smoothly incorporates illustrations that elevate the text. It’s not so heavily illustrated in a way that makes you think this is a book for younger middle grade readers. It’s still got the full text of a solid middle grade novel. The illustrations weave in to the story and often play with the text. You may recognize the artwork. Krampien has illustrated a striking portfolio of middle grade covers, including The Remarkable Journey of Coyote Sunrise, Those Kids from Fawn Creek, The Gray, and The Best Liars in Riverview.

Speculative vs Reality

Sometimes I find speculative elements of a middle grade story are so lightly woven in that they’re not even a necessary part of the story. The speculative challenges are set aside in favour of focusing on the more realistic challenges kids face. The Bellwoods Game strikes a much better balance between Bailee standing down an evil spirit and Bailee resolving the conflict that started when her classmates blamed her for telling on them. The common, realistic school challenges with which Bailee struggles (everyone assuming you did something which you didn’t, not being able to stand up for yourself, your best friends turning on your or not being as supportive as they should be) stand alongside the supernatural challenges. Both give strength to the story without one overpowering the other.

Location

I have to acknowledge that something lurking in the woods of a small town, especially on Halloween, is a trope which holds great appeal for myself. While the book isn’t the scariest middle grade story I’ve read, it’s certainly ~atmospheric~ in a spooky way. Also, I love the style of the map at the begining of the book. I spent a good while pouring over it before I started reading.

The Bottom Line 💭

A great middle grade debut whose illustrations may help broaden its appeal, I can highly recommend The Bellwoods Game whether you want to pick it up for its exploration of middle grade ostracization or its exploration of an ancient evil residing in a small town forest.

Further Reading 📰

🍂 Read an excerpt
🍂 Author website
🍂 Interview @ YA Books Central
🍂 Reviews: Kathie @ Bit About Books, Karen @ Ms Yingling Reads
🍂 Related: For more middle grade ghost stories, check out A Properly Unhaunted Place or Ghostlight (which is also by a Canadian author)

What’s your favourite setting for a spooky story?
Do you remember any folk stories or games from your childhood?