The Crossroads | 
| Author: Chris Grabenstein
Publisher: Random House Books for Young Readers
Category: Book
List Price: $16.99
Buy New: $7.49
You Save: $9.50 (56%)
New (26) Used (9) from $4.50
Avg. Customer Rating:  4 reviews
Sales Rank: 68138
Media: Hardcover
Reading Level: Ages 9-12
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 336
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 8.3 x 5.6 x 1.2
ISBN: 0375846972
EAN: 9780375846977
ASIN: 0375846972
Publication Date: May 27, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Condition: Usually ships within one business day from Chicago area.
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Product Description
ZACK, HIS DAD, and new stepmother have just moved back to his father’s hometown, not knowing that their new house has a dark history. Fifty years ago, a crazed killer caused an accident at the nearby crossroads that took 40 innocent lives. He died when his car hit a tree in a fiery crash, and his malevolent spirit has inhabited the tree ever since. During a huge storm, lightning hits the tree, releasing the spirit, who decides his evil spree isn’t over . . . and Zack is directly in his sights.
Award-winning thriller author Chris Grabenstein fills his first book for younger readers with the same humorous and spine-tingling storytelling that has made him a fast favorite with adults.
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| Customer Reviews:
Entertaining & Crazy June 18, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Zack Jennings is a fairly average kid. He's just moved from the city to Connecticut with his Dad and a fabulous new stepmom. Now he can even have a dog. It's a chance to start over after the death of his mother, except there is this mean, nasty ghost who has been waiting for fifty years to get revenge on those who played a roll in his death, and the Jennings family happens to be on his list.
While there is nothing particularly special about this horror novel, I found I enjoyed it much the way I enjoyed the movie, The Frighteners. That's the one where Michael J. Fox has developed psychic abilities after his wife is killed in a car accident. The movie is not exactly a comedy, but comedic moments are skillfully thrown in to mitigate any scene being too scary, and Grabenstein has applied this same device to The Crossroads. Whether it be the over-the-top country-boy accent applied to Zack's friend Davy, the freakish burger cravings of a possessed plumber, or the crazy, dangerous antics of a lady too old to physically hurt a fly, The Crossroads makes for a fun summer read. Oh, and the best part is that the stepmom and a librarian provide the key clues to solving the mystery of this ghost. Who says stepmoms are evil and librarians are boring?
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Another excellent story from Mr. Grabenstein June 13, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Chris has written an excellent adult series, a fabulous series for those older kids and young adults and now he has followed up with this new story that is perfect for the younger readers out there. The story is fast moving and exciting and guaranteed to catch the attention of even those kids who do not like to read. Great book!
The perfect ghost story for summer reading - for kids or adults June 9, 2008
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
"Have you ever seen a face hidden in the bark of a tree and known that the man trapped inside wanted to hurt you?" It's the perfect opening for Chris Grabenstein's ghost story, The Crossroads.
Grabenstein, author of the John Ceepak/Jersey Shore mysteries, and the Christopher Miller holiday thrillers, has tried his hand at a book for young readers, ages 9 to 12. And, he captures boys and ghost stories beautifully.
At eleven, Zack Jennings is moving to his father's hometown, North Chester, Connecticut, with his father and new stepmother, Judy. None of them know that their house sits on a haunted crossroads, an intersection where 41 people died in a collision with a car, a bus, and a police motorcycle. There are stories about the intersection and the killer trees at the crossroads, but newcomers have to discover the horrors themselves.
Zack is haunted by the memories of his mother, a woman who died of cancer. Because she blamed him for her life, he blames himself for her death. He'll discover a new life in Connecticut - a fun stepmother, a dog, a best friend unlike any friend he could imagine. And, he'll meet the woman who still tends the memory of her dead fiance by bringing roses to the tree at the crossroads. When Zack's father said they'd move for a new life, he had no idea what Zack was getting into.
My compliments to the author for avoiding stereotypes. Judy, the stepmother, is a wonderful character, a children's author who enjoys Zack and his imagination. And, as a librarian, I appreciate the Mrs. Emerson, the public librarian. She does her job well, but she also shows spunk. And how many adult readers picture librarians going to "submarine races"?
Grabenstein does a wonderful job bringing this ghost story to life. He includes the urban legends so many kids enjoy scaring themselves with - the motorcycle cop who died, but came back to prevent another accident, the woman hitchhiker who disappears. He adds his own creative ghost story, one fifty-years-old, and adds humor. There are explosions and fire, kidnapping, ghosts, and wild chase scenes. The Crossroads is a perfect book for summer escape reading. And, if you can pry it from your kids' hands, it's enjoyable summer reading for adults as well.
Passing On Reviews May 29, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Kirkus Reviews
Grabenstein, Chris
THE CROSSROADS
Ghosts vengeful and benevolent, evil possession and dark secrets from the past all figure in this suspenseful page turner destined to grab reluctant readers, especially boys, and R.L. Stine fans. When 11-year-old Zack Jennings moves with his father and new stepmother from New York City to rural Connecticut, he becomes the target of a hateful old woman and the ghost of her 1950s sweetheart, now a body-possessing demon bent on wreaking vengeance on Zack's ancestor by murdering the boy. Brief, fast-paced action chapters, tight plotting, several murders and a sympathetic main character keep things moving, as long-buried clues to the mystery of a tragic accident are revealed with some help from kindly phantoms. One friendly ghost in particular may come as a surprise. Fans of the genre won't mind some of the implausibilities; they'll keep reading. (Fiction. 10-12)
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