I just know for a fact that if I were the intended age group, I would be all over this book and I would want it to be at least a ten-book series. It manages to maintain just the right balance between shenanigans, creepiness and emotions - while upholding its age-range boundaries.

The relationship between Hazel and her brother Den actually SUPER reminded me of the sibling relationship in Christmas Chronicles - you can see they're so similar it often pulls them apart, unless they have a common goal they need to cooperate to achieve. The sidekicks are fun and different, the characters are well-established in their world, there's natural plot progression, there are lessons to be learned, and the real events are sprinkled in with a lot of elegance.

The only thing I'd list as a "negative" is that I wish there was more character development, maybe through higher stakes existing in the inner circle, not just outside of it. Overall though I had a really good time and reading this on my phone after everyone's asleep really brought me back to my own tween years of reading spooky middle grade books. I loved it a lot.

It Found Us was my first book by Lindsay Currie and I really enjoyed it! I liked the mystery being set around a graveyard, The atmosphere was wonderful!. I also liked the reveal and learning a bit of history, as this was based on a true event. I recommend this one for fans of spooky middle grade!

Hazel’s budding sleuthing skills will be put to the test when her brother Den’s best friend goes missing while playing a nighttime game of Hide and Seek in the town’s cemetery. The brother and sister team up to “help” the adults who are searching and despite practically being on lock down until Everett is found, the duo joins with Hazel’s best friend Maggie and does some sneaking around to solve the disappearance. As the clues mount, it becomes clear to Hazel, Den and Maggie that this is no kidnapping or a runaway situation but at least one ghost whose home has been disturbed and is out for….well, something. Like several of Lindsay Currie’s previous books, this haunting is based on historical fact, in this case, the horrific loss of life when a circus train is rear ended by a train controlled by a sleeping engineer plus the area in an Indiana cemetery called Showmen’s Rest where the nearly 60 circus people are buried. That basis in real events and places always gives Currie’s work a bit of extra eeriness and, combined with her talent in creating settings with details that you can see, hear, feel, and sometimes even smell, makes the reading of her works thoroughly satisfying. I will admit to some hesitancy in reading “It Found Us” because of the particularly gruesome cover, however. I recognize the look of the book marks it clearly as being in the scary/horror genre, but for me, the creepy ghost child resembles a Goosebumps, serial type creepy book rather than the non-cookie cutter, absolutely “real” feeling ghosty books that have made Lindsay Currie as well circulated in my middle grade libraries as Mary Downing Hahn’s books.

Currie continues to keep her books free of profanity and sexual content and any violence that is included is key to the plot progression and is never overly graphic or only placed there for shock value. Highly recommended for all libraries (home, school, public) serving grades 4-8.

There's a lot to love in this book. It brought back fond memories of my favorite childhood mystery series, like Scooby Doo; Murder, She Wrote; and Alfred Hitchcock's The Three Investigators, but it's got a fresh, modern take. Hazel, the heroine of the story, is a great role model for girls. She talks about how it's okay for boys to cry, doesn't assume the nemesis of the story is any particular gender, and mentions no less than three times that she may never get married and have kids, but might just "stick with cats." I wish so badly I'd had books discussing viewpoints like that when I was a kid! (I'm in my 40s now and felt that way as a child, myself, but all media at that time was telling me the opposite, that girls had to marry boys and have kids and that was it. Bleh.)

The characters are fantastic. I always love a brother-sister friendship, so watching Hazel take on her latest mystery case in part for the sake of cheering up her brother was touching. They don't always agree, but they're very respectful towards each other and are genuinely friends as well as brother and sister. Love, love, love to see that.

Adults and parents aren't absent from this story. They play some sensible roles and the parents act like parents while still treating their kids with respect and compromising after having heart-to-heart discussions.

Everything was great about this story, but the thing I loved most is that it's actually a horror story. The ghost is real, and I was surprised to learn that the tragedy leading up to the in-story haunting was an actual event that the author discusses in a note at the end of the book so you can research more about it and even look up photos of the cemetery portrayed in the story. So I learned something on top of being entertained, and the story was actually scary. The spirit had seemingly unlimited powers, and you never knew what might happen next.

It was a fun idea for Hazel to have a podcast and I would love to read more of her adventures in the future, if this book were to become a series.

Lindsay Currie is quickly becoming my favorite author for MG scary books. It Found Us may well be her best yet—the perfect blend of mystery, history, and ghost story. I was hooked from the first page and quickly identified with Hazel, a sleuthing 12-year-old who has to solve the scariest mystery yet when her brother Everett goes missing.

What sets this book apart is the Chicagoland history that’s expertly woven into this scary mystery, all while keeping me hooked to the story. I loved Hazel and the world created in It Found Us. Highly recommend this book to (upper) MG readers, and for use in classrooms and libraries to explore history’s mysteries.

I am already a huge Lindsay Currie fan and have read several of her books. I became a middle grade book lover when my kids were that age, and now I can't stop. I am so glad I read this book. It has the right amount of spooky, great kids, and history facts that I have come to love in a Lindsay Currie book. I don't want to give any spoilers but the true facts that some of this mystery is based on are very tragic but also interesting. I love how the author writes pre teens and teens. She doesn't stereotype or make them simple but complex people just like in real life. Hazel, the main character, is so inspiring. She is strong and independent yet leans on her friends. As a parent it meant a lot to me that the kids came to realize that parents have rules for their own safety, and the kids didn't want to let their parents down. A great all around spooky story filled with great characters. Thanks to Sourcebooks Kids, Lindsey Currie, and NetGalley for the free copy.

It Found Us by Lindsay Currie is a book after my own heart! I love love love spooky middle grade and Lindsay is a master at creep-factor. There were so many spine-chilling moments in this book that will live rent-free in my mind for awhile after reading this book.

Hazel, wannabe private investigator, is such a lovable character. Her growth over the course of the book is just what kids need to see. She’s fierce, she stands by her convictions, but she isn’t afraid of change. As she investigates the mystery of a missing teenager, she learns about compromise, compassion, and confidence.

Her relationship with both her older brother and her best friend are relatable and heart warming. Throughout the course of the book, Hazel highlights their strengths and uses them to help her solve the mystery,

If you like spooky middle grade, you’ll love It Found Us. Plus the cover art is GORGEOUS. Thanks for a great read Lindsay!

Thank you so much to Sourcebooks and Netgalley for the ebook to read and review.

Hazel loves a mystery and sleuthing around so when her brothers secret plans peak her interest she secretly follows him into the haunted graveyard. When his best friend disappears during a game of hide and seek in the graveyard it’s up to her, her brother and best friend to solve it.

This was creepy and eerie and amazing what an utterly creative, sinister, gripping, and fascinating horror mystery. I absolutely loved the direction this whole story took. From Hazel simply just wanting a fun mystery to solve to prove she should be taken seriously, to this whole mystery being way darker, deeper and with a heartbreaking back story. It was so much more than I ever expected it was going to be.

I loved that we got some really good history within it, the basis of the mystery so being surrounded by a true place, a true sad story, but with the authors very own twist on it. I found that so fascinating reading the authors note at the end learning there was more to it.

The characters were all very interesting and I loved how they interacted, how they were all so different but each had a great focus on a different element to the case, which helped to unlock more clues and solve the case. It was great how they worked together and though it was scary, it was hard none of them gave up or quit they continued to work together.

This is another incredibly well written spooky, eerie and creepy horror with a huge dark mystery to unlock throughout, one that you will not figure out trust me, it’s no easy case. I highly recommend this book it is incredible and so detailed, so eerie, so haunting. If you are a horror lover, a mystery lover or just want to be creeped out this book will be right up your alley.

Another homerun from Lindsey Currie!!!
It Found Us is another must read for those who like scary and creepy stories, and my readers are always asking for more books just like this one! Currie jumps right into the creepy scariness, and by the end, readers will be left totally satisfied. I can't wait to share this with my readers and add it to my middle school library collection.

Thank you to Sourcebooks Kids and NetGalley for this advanced copy. I voluntarily read and reviewed this ARC, and all thoughts and opinions are my own.

It found us is a fast paced middle grade paranormal mystery that will literally give you chills, this is by far one of curries best work and I recommend it to all readers of all ages. Not only does this have a great spooky story to tell this also give you hints of history.

Hazle is a young detective who loves to solve all sorts of mysteries in her town but when one night she “accidentally” over hears her brother planning the most epic and creepy game of hide and seek in the graveyard she can’t help but secretly tag along to see if it truly is haunted but when Everett dens best friend goes missing without a trace. Hazel so determined to find Everett but on the way some spooky clues come to light and paranormal activity begins.

I love spooky stories and always eagerly await the release of Lindsay Currie books and I was excited to read her latest, It Found Us. This is a story about a group of kids who are playing hide-n-seek in a supposedly haunted graveyard and then one of the boys ends up missing. The main character, Hazel Woods, sees herself as an amateur sleuth and, along with her brother and best friend, tries to find the missing boy. This was a fantastic spine-tingling book that kept me on the edge of my seat. I highly recommend!

Lindsey Currie is a master at weaving a ghost story where we not only root for the main characters but also hope the ghost can find peace in a resolution to the story.

On top of being one of my students' favorite authors, Lindsay Currie continues to knock middle-grade horror out of the park. With soul and thoughtfulness for the age group she writes for, these stories are spine-tingling spooky. When Hazel Woods, 12-year-old detective who reminded me so much of Harriet the Spy, steps up to help find her brother's missing best friend, they end up finding more ghosts than clues in the cemetery where he went missing. Get ready to have double copies on your library bookshelves!

Reading Lindsay’s books has everything I loved about reading spooky as a kid, and so much more: Beautiful prose, realistic dialogue, the insight into characters thoughts and motivations, heart and human connection.

This book has
- A strong female character who has sleuthing skills and grit
- Sibling teamwork
- A spooky cemetery setting with local legends and hearsay enshrouding it
- History, friendship and intrigue

I know I can put these books into reader’s hands for a surefire hit time and time again, and I feel confident that they are getting so much more than a fright out of the story, (although the fright is quite fun too).

I requested this one because it might be an upcoming title I would like to review on my Youtube Channel. However, after reading the first several chapters I have determined that this book does not suit my tastes. So I decided to DNF this one.

I love Lindsay Currie’s books and the concept of this one sounded so intriguing, but unfortunately, this one wasn’t my favorite. The characters were great, the spookiness was fantastic, the pacing was perfect, and the mystery was fun, but it felt like something was lacking in this one for me.

While I love a mystery in books, especially middle grade, at times I found the clues and the logic hard to follow. After finishing, I wonder if it’s because this book lacked many physical descriptions of the setting. For example, CH19 mentions the footprints that came from the shed, but the kids had just come from the shed in the mud. I didn’t understand why the footprints were a huge/groundbreaking clue because to me, it read as if they were the kids footprints. Some parts I had a hard time deciphering where they physically were, which pulling me out the story to try to figure out why the characters felt like some of these clues were so important.

Overall, though, I fully enjoyed this book. Den is such a lovable big brother. Maggie is the ultimate best friend. And Hazel is a fun main character and I loved getting to see her grow throughout this book!

Great, spooky read for younger readers. I think even more mature audiences could enjoy it as the characters were interesting and the plot was compelling from start to finish. Recommendable.

As a lifelong fan of Scooby Doo, Nancy Drew, the Boxcar Children, and other mystery series, I was excited for the opportunity to read IT FOUND US, a supernatural mystery with a young teen girl detective.

The opening scene was a funny bait and switch in tone, and it lent an easy introduction to our narrator, Hazel. However, Hazel takes a bit of a backseat as the mystery begins, merely observing her brother and his friends play hide and seek in the graveyard an subsequent disappearance of her brother's friend. I wonder if this book might have benefited from alternating viewpoints between Hazel and her brother, Den.

Hazel is a perfectly imperfect main character: impulsive but dedicated, single-minded and empathetic. Her relationship with her brother is realistic - neither constantly at each others' throats not finishing each other's sentences. One of the best things about children's mystery and horror is that the young characters can make unbelievably bad decisions and put themselves in more perilous situations (running from a black-eyed ghoul with its mouth stitched shut through a cemetery in a storm to hide in a MAUSOLEUM?!), and the reader can maintain remain sympathetic to the situations the characters find themselves in.

Hazel does shake off a supernatural experience early in the book a little too easily for someone whose defining characteristic is collecting facts before jumping to conclusions; hallucinating a houseful of smoke down to retching coughs is a big "blue" to nonchalantly add into a clue journal.

This book has a lot of heart and explores a historical tragedy (inspired by a real life event) with a sensitivity appropriate to the age of the characters and readers. To go from scared to heartbroken is no easy feat, and this story succeeds in that regard.

I rated this book 5 stars not because it's a perfect book for me, but because it's the perfect book for any kid who's felt like they weren't taken seriously by the adults in their lives and every child who still believes that Hazel believes: "Maybe it's stupid. Maybe I won't be able to do it. But I have to try."

IT FOUND US by Lindsay Currie

The title and cover drew me to this book straight away, as well as the author. I recently read What Lives in the Woods, so I was keen to see Lindsay’s next paranormal idea - and I wasn’t disappointed.

Hazel Woods is a sleuth and has been solving neighbourhood mysteries for awhile but really wants to start up her own podcast, ‘What Hazel Knows’. When her brother, Den, organises to meet his friends in a cemetery for a game of hide-n-seek, Hazel follows him. What follows leads Hazel, Den, and friend Maggie on a trail of clues supplied by a ghost in order to find Den’s friend Everett who went missing during the game.

What I really enjoy about Lindsay’s books is that they are paranormal, and ‘what goes bump in the night’ is not explained away as something else. The cause is a ghost, but the reason behind the ‘hauntings’ is investigated and dealt with by the characters. IT FOUND US has such an interesting historical back-story. I also loved how the characters developed from when we’re first introduced to them through to the final chapters.

Highly recommend for ages 10+.

Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is a spooky, supernatural whodunnit in the traditionnof Harriet the Spy. Middke grade readers will love a spunky, intuitive self-styled tween detective to root for in this ghostly caper.