But the strange bus driver has some advice for the kids left behind in his care: “Best get moving. On the way home, the school bus breaks down, sending their teacher back to the farm for help. Could it be the story about the smiling man is true? Ollie doesn’t have too long to think about the answer to that. There she stumbles upon the graves of the very people she’s been reading about. Ollie is captivated by the tale until her school trip the next day to Smoke Hollow, a local farm with a haunting history all its own. As she begins to read the slender volume, Ollie discovers a chilling story about a girl named Beth, the two brothers who both loved her, and a peculiar deal made with “the smiling man,” a sinister specter who grants your most tightly held wish, but only for the ultimate price. So when she happens upon a crazed woman at the river threatening to throw a book into the water, Ollie doesn’t think–she just acts, stealing the book and running away. Named a Best Book for Chicago Public LibrariesĪfter suffering a tragic loss, eleven-year-old Ollie only finds solace in books. Named one of the best books of the year by Kirkus and Publishers Weekly
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