Summer’s End

Volume XXXI / Issue 5 - October 4 / 2024
Summer's End
Summer's End
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Summer’s End

Author: 
Joel A. Sutherland
Toronto, ON: Scholastic Canada, 2017/2024
261 pp., trade pbk., $12.99
ISBN: 
9781039701748
Grades: 
Grades 7-10
Ages: 
Ages 12-15
Review by: 
Review by Stephanie Johnson
3
Excerpt: 

The lake and surrounding woods were silent, and the splash of their paddles sounded muffled. Jacob rubbed his ears. They felt like they were under tremendous pressure. ...

Sitting in the dead centre of the water was a single solitary island. It was choked with dark trees that concealed what lay at its centre. ...

Then, as if time had skipped a beat, the island suddenly loomed before them, its tall pines towering overhead. Without wind to bend their branches, the trees stood still as statues. ...

‘I have a strange feeling about this place,’ Jacob said, trying to look through the trees but seeing only darkness. ...

The air was hotter and heavier the farther inland they walked. It wasn’t altogether unpleasant, and smelled of moss and summer berries. ...

Another few steps and the path suddenly ended, widening to reveal a large clearing. A crushed stone walkway led to the front door of a large house.

Jacob’s headache began to fade.

The house sat at the far side of the clearing, surrounded by trees and tangled bushes. Against the backdrop of the grey sky, its red-brick chimney looked out of place – the only splash of colour on the black and grey house. The lack of colour made the house look like a dead thing, a pile of bones stripped clean of flesh by time and sun and rain.

Summer holidays are off to a great start with Ichiro’s getting a new canoe for him and his friends to paddle on the lake all summer. On their maiden voyage, Ichiro and Jacob paddle into an unfamiliar area and come across a deserted island. As they begin to explore the island, Jacob can feel the air is thick with energy, and soon they find themselves in front of an old, abandoned house. Do the curtains move? He’s not sure, but, of course, they must go inside the house to explore further. The boys find a number of mysteries to be solved in the house: why was it abandoned with everything left behind, what are the strange sounds that make themselves known and why do so many shadows move? The boys recruit two more friends to help investigate the spooky house, and, as they get closer to discovering what happened, tensions amp up as the house and its inhabitants start to tighten their hold on the friends.

A fast-paced read, Summer’s End starts off with horror from the outset with a scene involving the group of four friends having to put a dying bird out of its misery. This event could be disarming to some but luckily is short-lived. Once past these few pages, the spooks move more to the supernatural variety although there are still some gruesome elements further in the story, but a seasoned horror reader (or watcher) will not blink twice. The author does a great job at describing the setting which really sets the eerie mood for the whole book and is maintained throughout. There are some classic mystery plot additions, like researching old newspapers at the local library and interviewing reclusive townsfolk, but the action stays moving so readers won’t get bogged down with these standard details. The language is straightforward and will be accessible to a wide variety of readers while still adding challenges with some of the historical descriptions.

Horror lovers will delight and horror newbies might be a bit shocked, but Summer’s End contains enough spooks and enough story to please both crowds.

Recommended
Reviewer: 

Stephanie Johnson is a graduate of the Master of Library and Information Studies Program from the University of Alberta and is the Director of Devon Public Library in Devon, Alberta.