I am a huge fan of Lindsay curries books and sadly found this one to not be my favorite. The concept was spooky and cute like always, but the overall pacing was off for me and I didn’t feel like there was enough plot elements to fill this one up. The brother sister relationship being a major focus was well executed though and I felt the grief and blaming of losing his friend was well executed. If I hadn’t read her other books I probably wouldn’t have dissected this one so much, but it overall just didn’t compare to her others and a lot of moments felt like repeats from her other books. I look forward to her next book and hope this was just a fluke.

I love spooky middle grade and Lindsay Currie writes the creepiest, most atmospheric middle grade books.

It Found Us starts off with a creepy game of hide and seek between friends in a cemetery, when one of the friends goes missing. It’s up to 12 year old sleuth Hazel Woods, her bother, Den, and her best friend, Maggie, to find the missing teen. There’s ghosts, mystery, and adventure.

Hazel was such a cute and likable character and I loved her interactions with her brother and her best friend. The story was creepy and fun.

I enjoyed the author’s note at the end where Currie explained her love for history and her inspiration for writing this book. This story features a real train wreck that occurred in 1918. I thought that was very interesting.

I definitely recommend this book to readers of any age who adore spooky middle grade fiction. This is the perfect spooky season read!

4/5 stars

I love Lindsay Currie and this was another great ghost story from her! I can't wait for another one!

I love how the author incorporates a real incident in history and gives it a ghost story as I love learning about things I didn't know about! Great for young readers who love to be spooked!

Review up on Storm Reads blog.

Hazel loves being what she thinks is a detective but what others might call a snoop and when she listens in on her brothers phone call with his friend and learns he is going to sneak out she follows.

They end up at the graveyard where Den and his friends are going to play hide and seek except something happens while they are there a freak storm, some eerie yowling, a scream and Den's friend Everett is gone.

Hazel and Den don't want to leave looking for Everett up to the adults so they decide to do some investigating, even though they are told to stay home. They sneak back to the graveyard were another spooky storm happens and they see a very spooky looking kid with no eyes and it's mouth sewn shut, they hightail it home but the ghost will not be deterred and follows them home.

Now things are getting really scary and Hazel's friend Maggie gets in on things and they start trying to figure out who the ghost is and what he wants and why it took Everett.

This was a great ghost story with lots of spooky elements. I love how the author uses a tragic part of history and weaves a ghostly tale around it so that I learned about a part of history that I didn't know about. I was so curious about the elephants in the graveyard and love that the authors tells you about things at the end in the authors note. I even found a non-fiction book about what happened in that town and I am curious to give it a try.

I think my only negative thing about this book is the cover. I just think it's to spooky for a middle grade book. It will creep out most adults! Other than that it's another great book by the author! Still not my favorite but probably my second favorite. :)

First of all, this cover is golden. It drew me in first before I even noticed it was the next spooky read by Lindsay Currie. I've read her offerings since 'What Lives in the Woods', and I think this is her best one yet.
Full of good jump-scares, creepy ghosts, phantom smells, and a good dose of friendship and family, It Found Us is great take on what scared kids most in the 90s. That might not have been Currie's goal, but the themes are all there: hide-and-seek, child abduction, possessions, storms, and fire. It read like a favorite episode of Are You Afraid of the Dark.
If you pay attention to the cover, and know your Chicagoland history, you'll catch the answer to the problem early on. But I believe younger readers will not have a clue until it's all in the open. A perfect mystery that will also teach them a little history. Can't wait to get this into the hands of middle grade readers at my library.

Hazel wants to start a podcast where she can talk about solving mysteries. She's been using her sleuthing skills around town to solve local mysteries such as who broke a store window, who stole a bike, and most recently who's been leaving dog poop on her neighbor's lawn. Her parents' refuse to let her start her podcast and are exasperated at her snooping. But her snooping skills come in handy when she overhears her brother making plans to sneak out to play hide and seek at the local cemetery. Hazel sees this as a chance to gather intel on the legends surrounding the cemetery that indicate the place is haunted. Her search takes a turn for the worse when Den's friend Everett disappears during the game.

While the police and volunteers search for Everett, Hazel and Den quickly realize that Everett didn't run away and strange happenings in the cemetery indicate his disappearance is likely related to the supernatural things going on in the cemetery. Realizing the need to find Everett quickly, Hazel puts every skill she has into gathering clues. With the help of Den and her best friend, Maggie, the interview people and gather clues, but can they put everything together before it's too late?

Once again, Currie has written a spooky story full of questions needing answers. I loved the combination of ghost story and mystery. Hazel's determination and good sense came in handy as the kids navigate a terrifying and confusing situation. I also appreciated Hazel and Den's parents. So many books have clueless or absent parents. In this case, the parents are busy helping with the search for Everett and are trusting their kids to stay home as asked, when they catch the kids returning from an investigating jaunt, they work out a deal that works for both the kids and the parents. The author does a good job of building the tension as the kids encounter increasing danger as they get closer to the answers they seek. A thrilling mystery with a good dose of scary ghost story.

Another great MG novel from Lindsay Currie that's a bit spooky, but not too scary! Hazel is a strong and determined main character who makes it her mission to solve the mystery of the missing kid, Everett, from the creepy cemetery in the town with the help of her brother and friends.

Thank you to the publisher for an eARC via NetGalley to read and review.

I enjoyed this one. It was a quick and easy middle grade read that was perfect for spooky season. Hazel was a good sleuth, and I liked how she kept track of the clues in a journal so she could go back to them repeatedly.
The mystery of Everett’s disappearance was chilling, and the introduction of the ghost was done really well. I did figure out parts of the ghost’s motivations and intentions pretty early, but I was still hooked to the story to figure out who the ghost was.

Here are my two reviews for It Found Us

I have added links to my reviews on my Goodreads and my tok tik channel

https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZT8MBvfht/

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5872358087

Thank You!

A spooky and enjoyable read. I enjoyed reading about this mystery lover who doesn't back down from the supernatural!! Highly recommend.

I cannot believe how much I enjoyed this. I expected a decent book that was lighthearted for spooky season, but it was much more than that!
I loved these characters and they kept me laughing and on my toes. They are so smart and make believable decisions throughout. The mystery/haunting is surprisingly creepy. The cemetery elements were exactly what I wanted for spooky atmosphere. Love this for a Halloween season easy read between adult horror to lighten the mood a bit!

Thank you NetGalley and Sourcebooks for an Arc in exchange for an honest review💖

I bought this book for the spooky yet beautiful front and back cover art and flew through the pages in between. I absolutely loved the hide-and-seek storyline. SO many scary scenes. But amidst all the fright was well-developed friendships and a sibling relationship. It Found Us is so much more than just a ghost story. Highly recommended!

Lindsay Currie is one of my favorite spooky middle grade authors, so I knew I was going to enjoy It Found Us!

I loved the characters, enjoyed all of the history woven into the story, and actually got chills at one part during the book! Such a great middle grade horror novel. It’s definitely a favorite among the Lindsay Currie books that I’ve read!

Thank you to Netgalley and Sourcebooks Young Readers for the ARC in exchange for my honest review!

Holy cow! If this book doesn't scream spooky, I don't know what does! Just look at the cover (cringe). So I don't like to read anything like adult horror that is going to stick with me for weeks, but I'm discovering that I do enjoy a good middle grade ghost story. I feel that Currie weaves the perfect combinations of mystery, suspense, and scary. She also throws in a bit of history. This is her second book that I've read and I loved it even more than the first one. I love that again the story builds on friendship and family relationships. I love the way that Curries sets the scene and then draws you into the mystery. This is one that I couldn't put down. It didn't help during the spooky parts that I was up past my everyone's bedtime, reading in the dark and seeing shadows out of the corner of my eye lol. But I loved it! It is one of those perfect middle grade reads that can be enoyed by children and adults alike.

A am a big fan of Lindsay Currie, and IT FOUND US does not disappoint. I love how Currie seamlessly weaves history into her spooky middle grade stories. This particular story features a young sleuth named Hazel who dreams of solving all the neighborhood mysteries and then discussing them on her podcast. But when her sneaking around puts her smack dab in the middle of a haunted cemetery on the night her brother's best friend goes missing, she forgets all about her podcast dreams and focuses on finding Everett. Although a little slow in the beginning, the chills really pick up mid-way and we're taken on a spine tingling ride to the thrilling conclusion. I love middle grade stories that have just the right amount of scares and show characters facing their fears and this story has just that.

Lindsay Currie writes the best spooky middle grade stories!

I have read quite a few of her novels and I must say, this one is probably the scariest, The idea of a missing kid, let alone one who went missing in a cemetery, is scary for both kids and adults. Add in the ghost with a creepy smile? CHILLS!

Lindsay Currie novels have become a staple fall/spooky season read for me and her newest release is no exception. Definitely a good one to read if you're looking for a middle grade horror that is one the creepier side!

Thank you to Sourcebooks Kids and Netgalley for providing me with an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

It Found Us is a great novel for middle grade kids looking for a scare. It doesn't let up much with the scare; there's no man in a mask, there's scenes that could cause a child to need to sleep with a light on, and the main character trying to solve a haunted mystery is a female who gets help from her brother and friend but doesn't lose her bravery. Not even when a ghost tears her out of her bed.

I suggest this one for kids between 9-13 who want to be spooked right before bed.

I've heard that Currie is a master at ghost stories, and this is a shining example! You can't help root for the characters. It's an enjoyable spooky read perfect for the younger audience (though older readers will likely enjoy it, too).

It Found Us is a great read from Lindsay Currie. It manages to pull in historical events and weave in horror of the modern day. Currie manages to write complex middle grade characters and I love that she treats kids like the full humans they are.

The creepy cover is the perfect tone for the book. The mystery elements and true crime-esque pieces make it a great read. The plot devices like the journal and history really draw everything together and help the reader keep up with all the events.

Honestly, I am obsessed with how Currie weaves in actual historical events into these middle grade horror novels! No spoilers, but I definitely plan on doing some searching on my own to learn about the one from IT FOUND US.

The mystery was interesting, the spooky elements are on point, and the resolution was satisfying (I loved the role Mrs. Forster plays!). This is a perfect title to add to middle grade spooky book lists!

Side note - the cover art is AMAZING and captures the vibe perfectly.

Advanced Reader’s Copy provided by NetGalley, SOURCEBOOKS Kids, and Sourcebooks Young Readers in exchange for an honest review.