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The Bellwoods Game

LIST PRICE $17.99

About The Book

Perfect for fans of Doll Bones and Hocus Pocus, this “beautifully creepy” (Kirkus Reviews), highly illustrated middle grade novel follows a girl who hopes to fix her outcast status through a game in the haunted woods, only to discover that some legends shouldn’t be played with.

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 on Halloween night. Three kids are chosen to go into the woods. Whoever rings the bell there wins the game and saves the town for another year, but if Abigail’s ghost captures 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, just maybe, if Bailee wins, she can go back to the way things used to be before her grandma got sick and everyone at school started hating her. But when the night begins, everything the kids thought they knew about the game—and each other—is challenged. One thing’s for sure: something sinister is at play…waiting for them all in the woods.

About The Author

Photograph by Jamie Nadalin

Celia Krampien grew up in a house in the woods in a small town near Owen Sound, Ontario, Canada. She studied illustration at Sheridan College and currently lives in St. Catharines, Ontario, with her partner, a mischievous cat, and a nosy beagle. She is the author of The Bellwoods Game.

About The Reader

Photo Credit: Jose R. Lopez

Product Details

  • Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio (July 18, 2023)
  • Runtime: 6 hours and 37 minutes
  • ISBN13: 9781797162454
  • Grades: 3 - 7
  • Ages: 8 - 12

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Raves and Reviews

"Caitlin Kelly provides a spookily entertaining yet tender rendering of this middle-grade story about courage, friendship, and the power of stories. Every Halloween, Beckett Elementary’s sixth-grade students engage in the chillingly serious Bellwoods game. If they win, the town will be safe for a year; if not, a vengeful ghost will torment them all. In a clear, youthful voice, Kelly describes Bailee Heron, who courageously volunteers to play the game despite worries about her family and insecurity about her ability to succeed. Kelly skillfully shows Bailee’s character growth as she moves from tentative to confident, making heroic choices for her community, despite the cost to herself. Kelly’s portrayal of the genuinely creepy specter in the woods adds to the spine-tingling pleasure of this ghostly coming-of-age story."

– AudioFile Magazine

Awards and Honors

  • Cybils Award Finalist

Resources and Downloads

High Resolution Images

More books from this author: Celia Krampien

More books from this reader: Caitlin Kelly