Took: A Ghost Story

Found this in the YA section, but I would categorize as Middle-Grade. It's a solid read for a MG audience, but still had this adult reader turning pages faster as the story progressed and tension built. My fifth-seventh grade self would have adored this book. Reminiscent of the darker, classic folk and fairy-tales.

Mary Downing Hahn certainly has a knack for telling a chilling tale. I remember when I was a kid and I'd stay up late reading a scary story, against the advice of my parents, and how thrilling it was to get away with something I shouldn't have been doing. This is how I felt reading this story that was narrated by 13-year-old Daniel whose sister, Erica, goes missing mid-tale. The police have no luck locating Erica. If Daniel is to get his sister back, he may have to buy into the folktales about Old Auntie, an evil witch who has supposedly been taking little girls for about two hundred years in their remote part of West Virginia. The locals think Erica has been 'took' by Old Auntie. Will Daniel be brave enough to go up against an evil witch, her ravenous, equally supernatural razorback hog, Bloody Bones, and rescue Erica? I loved the accent spoken by the West Virginians and the lovely lesson at the end concerning Daniel and Erica. Big brothers protect their little sisters.

Took is an awesome ghost story. The suggested age range is 10-12. This is about right, but parents will enjoy this too. I am so tired of poorly written children's books that this one was quite a treat. It's very well written, good pace, fully developed characters, believable interactions between characters, excellent plot and the perfect amount of scariness.

The story is narrated by Daniel. Due to financial issues, his family moves from a posh comfortable home to a dilapidated shanty in Woodville VW - a small town where outsiders aren't welcome. The local kids make it clear that they don't like Daniel and his sister, Erica, and school is miserable for them. Daniel is well written and acts like a typical kid in his situation. Through Daniel's eyes, the reader sees his parents become more and more unhappy and Erica becoming more withdrawn.

**** WARNING: Minor Spoiler after this point ****

WHen Erica is "took", it is up to Daniel to save her. People either don't believe how she was took or are too scared. Daniel summons his courage. The only thing that I didn't like about this book is that Daniel never says "thank you" to those who help him. Daniel is 13. It's a small thing, but it rubbed me the wrong way.

Overall, this is an excellent juvenile thriller!

It takes an unrealistic scenario to get the family into the ‘haunted’ house that just strains the credulity of the reader who already knows this is some sort of ghost story.

Daniel, the 13 year old, is the one who must travel into fear to rescue his sister. That always disturbs me a little bit – that a child has to be the one to rescue everyone in some children’s books. I just think parents should be paying closer attention.

I wasn’t sure whether I liked this book or not but I have an almost 8 year old and a 10 year old who are both loving the book. They take their reading times at different times every day so they can both read the book. 8 years old is a little young for this story but it is within his reading level and nothing in this book was inappropriate for children who like scary stories.

A haunted house/woods story with a twist. Old Auntie was amazing, and she was creepy enough that ten-year-old me would’ve been half terrified to go to sleep. But adult me loves this creepy old hag living in the woods and taking kids. Daniel was amazing. So intelligent for a boy his age, so brave when he risked everything to save his sister. A page turner, for adults AND middle graders. I received a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

This is the first book that I really thought deep about. I have never writen anything like this before,but this book was so good. I mean I hate when it's 10:00 and I have to tell myself to go to sleep. Just the whole way that it was so scary. I have always loved ghost story's. So when I saw it said "A Ghost Story " I just had to read. This was the first ghost story that I really felt connected and I was kind of scared at some points. This book was really thriling. I love how the author included the doll to make a twist to the whole story. I would recommend to anyone who's a reader but wants an awesomed book to read.I give 5 stars to this book!

This is a spooky story that's fun. The supernatural element shouldn't seriously scare young readers. It's more the type of story the reader can pretend scares him or her. One reviewer compares this with the campfire type story and yes, this fits. It can get "oohs" and "Ah's" from the audience without seriously scaring them. Yeah, I recommend this for young folks.

Very good children's horror story, just in time for Halloween. Good triumphs over evil. I would've loved this story when I was in the third grade (blurb says age range is 9-12, so advanced readers will probably like it as early as late second grade).

This book was won in a contest.

Plunged by sudden circumstances into a rundown house and the ghost story equivalent of a "bad neighborhood" 13-year-old Daniel is too sophisticated to believe in the rural nonsense about a witch who kidnaps children... until his sister disappears. Now it's time for him to man up and do whatever it takes to save her. Good for brothers with annoying little sisters.

Really scary and creepy but not really a ghost story. More a witchcraft tale. I had to jump to the ending to see what happened and then read the chapters leading up to the ending. (I know, cheating! but I was scared!)

My 10 year old son just finished reading this book and he LOVED IT.....this is coming from a child I have to force to read, he has never enjoyed reading novels. I am so happy he loved this book, now the hunt is on for something similar.

I won this ARC from Goodreads giveaway.

I am certain the target audience will love this one. In fact, as an adult, I enjoyed it. There are family dynamics, ghosts, and plenty of tension. It is very well written.

Honestly when I first started reading I thought oooooooo maybe this is gonna get me. I live a good scary story that creeps me out or makes me look over my shoulder for something I know is not there. About 7 maybe 8 chapters in I knew, nope I was wrong. It lost its creepy, it became a folk lore tale. Don't get me wrong it's nor a bad story, it's was just not the creepy thriller I suspected. Mary has a great writing style and maybe it was just be but I was underwhelmed with this particular story. I adore her descriptions though. I'm a person with an eye for details and Mary will give you detail. Especially when it comes to characters.

Fans of goosebumps will appreciate this teen urban legend with a little bit of redneck lore about a razor back hog that terrorizes the neighborhood. Never short of excitement, kids will love this and the lore.

Rather typical horror story suited for children. It's not a bad story but it doesn't go outside the box. That may be fine for kids since they don't have as many books "under their belt" but it doesn't offer any real surprises for anyone that's read more than a couple of horror stories. It is creepy enough where I would not recommend it for the timid but not excessively so. I think it would be best suited for upper elementary, grades 4-6.

This is an entertaining, just-scary-enough book for older kids, featuring a witch, a creepy doll, and a cabin in the woods that looks derelict in the daytime but comes alive at midnight.

When his father loses his job in posh Fairfield, Connecticut, Daniel and his younger sister, Erica, find themselves moving to Woodville, West Virginia, an economically depressed area where the siblings are reviled as snobs at the local school. The family moves into a dilapidated farmhouse where the paint is peeling and the roof leaks. Both kids want to go back to their old life, but it isn't possible. And then they start to hear the strange stories about a girl who lived in their house 50 years ago -- until she disappeared and was never heard from again. And then Erica disappears ...

Mary Downing Hahn has plenty of experience in writing spooky stories for kids, and it shows in this book, which will give readers the chills but hopefully not nightmares. It flows well and kept my interest until the end. The characters are likable (except for the evil ones), and within the supernatural boundaries of the story, the situations and relationships are realistic. It's a fun read.

The writing for this book is excellent. But I really do not like stories about the abduction of children. I know this is just a fantasy, but nowadays there are too many stories like this one, that make me cringe at the thought that this may actually happen. Still interesting, but kinda creepy!!