Book: The Bellwoods Game
Author: Celia Krampien
Publisher: Atheneum Books for Young Readers
Year: 2023
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Synopsis: “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, in which three kids are chosen to go into the woods on Halloween night. However rings the bell there wins the game and saves the town for another year. But if Abigails’s ghost captures all 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 if Bailee wins, she can go back to the way things used to be before everyone at school started hating her. But is Abigail’s ghost really haunting the Bellwoods? One thing’s for sure: something sinister is at play – waiting for them all in the woods…”

Review: While this is targeted to ages 8-12, it was a super enjoyable read for me and definitely felt like it could (and maybe should?) easily be targeted at ages a bit older than 8. While it read like a middle grade book, it had some scarier scenes and talked about death in a way that didn’t necessarily read like something an eight-year-old would be into. Maybe that’s just that it’s been so long since I was 8, but it felt more like an 11-15 to me. All that aside, I thoroughly enjoyed The Bellwoods Game and would love, love, love if Krampien would write a second one.

The Bellwoods Game follows sixth grader Bailee as she navigates the trials of late elementary school, the drama of being shunned by your peers, and the fragility of life as she works through her grandmother’s recent mini stroke. All the while, Beckett Elementary, where Bailee goes to school, is preparing for it’s annual Bellwoods Game – a night in the local forest playing an innocent game of tag. Or is it? Legend has it that every October, the sixth grade class gathers in the woods to play a game, one that feels harmless, but also comes with a lot of superstition, students who were past players who cannot physically talk bout the game, and a passed down and much revered book of rules. The students participate in a lottery to see who will play, with those chosen bringing a gift for the spirit of the Bellwoods forest – it’s their free pass through if they get caught by otherworldly creatures.

Bailee, along with two other students, are chosen to play the game. At the clang of a bell, they must race through the woods, navigating their surroundings in the ever-increasing gloom of a fall evening, and make their way to the bell at the furthest edge of the woods. If they can successfully ring the bell, they town will be safe for another year, however if they fail to ring the bell the town will be thrown into peril, with past failed years bringing bad crops, businesses closing, and other tragedies. As Bailee and her peers rush toward the bell, they begin to experience weird things, see weird sights, and discover that all is not as it seems. In fact, there seems to be a ghost in the woods, or maybe two ghosts; creatures who both want to help and harm the students, able to assist and foil their plans – even going so far as to change the landscape of the woods as the students play.

My biggest complaint with this book was how slowly things unfolded once the kids were inside the woods, however what I felt was quite slow in book form I think would make for the perfect setup in a tv-show. I kept thinking “MAN this would make a great show” and honestly I would be first to watch it if it did! All the ways that things slow down in book form are really perfect for unraveling over the course of a multi-episode season. I also thought the way Krampien ended the book left room for additional books and/or seasons if it ever did become a show – while the ends are tied together well, she set the scene and left the door open for future books, which I would be super interested in if she did! One of the most unique qualities about the book is the fact that Krampien not only wrote it but did all of the illustrations, which we see every few pages in comic book style. They’re cute and really add depth and dimension to an already enjoyable read, even more impressive that she drew them herself.

Advice: If you like cute, cozy, spooky books particularly set in October around Halloween, this might just be your thing! It’s low stakes, and the scene is set so beautifully that even reading it in the middle of summer transported me to a fall day. If you love a fall book, this is for you!