“Something followed is home from that cemetery. Something evil.”

I’ve decided middle grade horror is about the only horror I can handle. From an erie cemetery, moving dolls, mummy’s faces that change, haunted cottages, this book is full of surprises and twists and has some intense action.

With all of those things, this book adds more examples to what I love about middle grade. Josie, Jackson, and Alison are kids that work together, aren’t perfect, and see the good in each other. Even when being haunted by ghosts, as are trying to figure out why.

There are many exciting twists and I enjoyed trying to figuring out the craziness with the trio. As the story develops, their motivations change as they realize the danger involved. I like how they kept trying, but remembered they’re only human (and kids) too.

This is my first book from this author and I’m exited to read more!

Thank you to the publisher for the NetGalley approval.

Lindsay Currie delivers another eerie middle-grade ghost story with It’s Watching, a thrilling tale perfect for young readers who love a good scare. The story follows Josie and her two friends as they investigate a ghostly legend for their school journalism class—only to find themselves trapped in a real-life haunting during a dangerous winter storm. With no adults around (thanks to some well-intentioned but ill-advised deception), the trio must figure out how to appease the ghost while keeping themselves safe.

As an adult reader, I can see why It’s Watching will captivate middle-grade audiences. The mystery is engaging, the scares are well-paced, and Currie’s signature atmospheric writing brings the chilling setting to life. However, there are several plot points that feel highly improbable. Josie’s parents never check in with her friend’s parents, even after the storm causes delays. The kids freely use parent credit cards to pay for Uber rides to a cemetery—transactions that would likely alert the parents. Even the Uber drivers themselves seem unconcerned about dropping three unaccompanied children off in the middle of nowhere before a storm.

Despite these logistical concerns, It’s Watching is sure to be a hit with young readers who enjoy spooky adventures. While it’s not my favorite Lindsay Currie novel, it still delivers plenty of ghostly thrills and suspense that will keep middle-grade audiences eagerly turning the pages.

I had a lot of fun with this! The writing is fast paced and the characters are entertaining and well-written. If you have kids or teens who enjoy spooky stories or if you're looking for a light horror book, I would recommend this! It's a fun read! Special Thank You to Lindsay Currie,Random House Children's and NetGalley for allowing me to read a complimentary copy in exchange for an honest review.

This book has so much my students love. Ghosts. Mysteries. Kids solving problems with very little parent or adult interaction. They like being a little bit scared and feeling they are solving the mystery right along with the three main characters. Beyond that, I like that the author was using a real cemetery and the abuse of it as a model for. Kids can look up the very cemetery and learn more about it.

Wow, this book was way spookier than I expected, and I love that! We're following three friends who are trying to come up with a great story for their school newspaper. They decide they are going to try to prove that the local legends of a famous ghost are true. The plan is to sneak into the haunted cemetery on Halloween night and try to get pictures of said ghost. They aren't in the cemetery long before they are scared off by a security guard. Soon after, they all get a strange meme of a farmhouse that also has an unsettling, haunted story behind it. Then the countdown begins. They start experiencing supernatural things like lights flickering, house alarms going off, muddy boot prints, computers turning on by themselves and much more! The friends immediately get to work to try to figure out what's going on and figure out that a ghost has followed them home from the cemetery and wants something from them. Being the little reporters that they are, they start doing their research and they have a deadline they have to meet.

The setting of this story is all around so spooky and atmospheric. There were plenty of thrill moments that kept me turning the pages. The relationship between the friends is so heartwarming and supportive. Though they all had different levels of scaredness and anxiety, they came together to help each other work through their emotions. I enjoyed going along with the friends as they researched the history behind the people buried in the cemetery and learning about their lives. Really enjoyable read.

Thank you NetGalley, Random House, & Lindsay Currie for an eARC of this book. #NetGalley #ItsWatching

We loved this title for our summer reading list -- we always need at least one spooky / horror option and this had us on the edge of our seats. The pacing was great and it had tween appeal!

Three middle school friends with a plan to take their newspaper careers to the next level get caught up in an intense haunting by a ghost instead. When the ghost gives them a deadline, the trio must use all their skills and smarts to figure out how to beat it. Author Lindsay Currie returns showcasing strong friendships and age-appropriate thrills in her latest middle grade paranormal book, It’s Watching.

Josie is super excited about her latest article idea. She and her best friends, Jackson and Alison, who are also reporters for the school newspaper, have decided to go to their local cemetery on Halloween night. Their mission? Prove that the ghost known as the Lady in White is real. Josie doesn’t know what to think about ghosts, but she does know that if she and the others can get some hard evidence to make a case their spots in eighth grade for the newspaper’s editorial board are a lock.

The kids tell fibs—okay, lies—to their parents about staying at one another’s houses for the weekend. Josie’s parents have left their small Illinois town to go help Josie’s grandmother move, so it made sense that Josie would offer her house as the friends’ base of operations. She and the others hang out all the time anyway, so it’s not like she’s with people her mom and dad don’t know. And when all three of them make the editorial board the following school year, their parents will be so proud they won’t even ask how the trio got their story.

They go to the cemetery known as Bachelor’s Grove and start poking around. But soon enough, the kids get spooked. Someone—or something—doesn’t want them hanging around. They don’t have time to get any evidence of the Lady in White or anything else, but they also know they have to be smart and stay safe. Even though they’re super disappointed, they decide to leave.

While leaving the cemetery, all three receive the same alert on their phones: a creepy meme of a haunted farmhouse with the words “I’m watching” on the screen. Rumors have been swirling for years—maybe decades!—that people have seen the farmhouse on foggy nights and disappeared into it. The kids get freaked out and run back to Josie’s house, thinking the distance will help. After all, ghosts only haunt cemeteries, right?

Wrong. Weird things at Josie’s place start freaking them out even more. The house alarm gets tripped for no good reason. The TV starts blaring in the middle of the night. An old-timey painting in Josie’s house has started to look more and more like the ancient farmhouse on their phones. Worst of all, the friends get a second alert. This one has a countdown, and the message becomes pretty clear pretty quick. A ghost is expecting some sort of answer to something. The only problem is, what’s the question?
Author Lindsay Currie’s ability to write solid middle school friendships shines once again in this book. Jackson, Josie, and Alison share a comfortable relationship that feels three-dimensional. The friends don’t always agree on everything, yet they work out their differences with solutions and ideas that sound like how real middle schoolers talk and react. Their support for one another, too, is charming and encouraging. Readers in the target audience will find themselves appreciating their own friends even more because of the model that Josie, Alison, and Jackson provide.

The book has enough thrills and chills to keep readers flipping or swiping pages to find out what happens next. At times the scary moments provide enough frights to make even adult readers jump, yet Currie always keeps her audience squarely in mind. The kids might be terrified while they’re going through some situations yet their bravery and determination, first to get the story and then to solve the mystery, keeps the plot at an age-appropriate level.

Some readers might find it a little hard to believe that the three friends are left alone for such a long period of time with minimal adult interaction and almost no supervision. Also, the end, while appropriate for the book, feels a little rushed, given how hard the kids have to work to get there. Still, readers will definitely want to put this on their lists for spooky season.

Yes! This book was mysterious and creepy with some serious ghost-story vibes. Set during Halloween and perfect for the Halloween season. I loved the hauntingly atmospheric details which imparted a great sense of unease and tension throughout. This book succeeds in actually feeling like a ghost story.

Eerie and engaging, but also inspiring. This book is a celebration of friendship, community, and history, as well as a nod towards journalism and journalistic integrity.

I'm happy to have read this one.

It’s Watching is the newest middle grade spooky book by Lindsay Currie. In it, three friends start off celebrating Halloween by visiting a local cemetery to get pictures and a story for their school newspaper column. What ends up happening isn’t what they planned! They bring a ghost home with them and get some scary messages from it with a deadline….

My students love scary books and I think this is the perfect amount of scary for most of them. This will be a great new option for fans of Mary Downing Hahn. Can’t wait to purchase and share with them!

This book was such a fun read. There is something about Lindsay Currie’s writing that allows me to connect with my inner child. Horror never used to be something I could tolerate as a kid, and now I read horror because it brings me so much joy. Her books were the first kind of horror I ever tried and have ultimately guided me into many 5 star horror reads. Middle grade horror will always have a special place in my heart, for that little girl that would have loved these books. Lindsay Currie always gets me, with fascinating stories about ghosts, friendship, and the deeper issues of life that we all deal with, whether child or adult. This book mainly focuses on grief and bravery and the deep bond of friendship. I feel lucky to have been able to read it early. I would suggest any of Lindsay Currie’s books and this one is no different!

Wow, this was a great middle grade horror! It's Watching was my first Lindsey Currie but it definitely made me want to check out her other works. Especially because it seems like this one was connected to another novel. I loved the characters in this book and their friendship. The writing was also fantastic.

Children's author Lindsay Curie has written another compelling story that will keep kids on the edge of their seats. In this middle grade horror story, three friends sneak into an abandoned grave yard to try and prove or disprove an urban legend. They don't find any evidence of that ghost, but a different one may have followed them home. Currie is a master of suspense who uses just enough horror to keep young fans engrossed without being scary enough to cause nightmares. I read The Mystery of Locked Rooms and couldn't wait to read this book. I loved them both and can't wait to see what this author comes up with next.

If you ask me Lindsay Currie is quickly becoming the queen of middle-grade horror. She just knows have a weave an engaging story with the right amount of creepiness. Josie, Jackson, and Alison decide to sneak into Bachelor’s Grove cemetery with hopes of finding proof of a famous ghost for their school’s newspaper. Things don’t go as planned and they think they failed in their mission only to later receive a meme on their phones, which is when strange/creepy things begin to happen, and before they known it they have only days to discover what is haunting them. This felt like a kind of reimagining of The Ring, with memes replacing the cursed videotape from the movie. This is a clever, thrilling, fast paced adventure that is sure to delight readers of all ages. I’d like to thank Random House Children's | Delacorte Press, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review an eARC of Its Watching.

https://www.amazon.com/review/R119T4TQBSI3SQ/ref=pe_123899240_1043597390_SRTC0204BT_cm_rv_eml_rv0_rv

And the queen of middle grade spooky books keeps her crown. As usual, a thrilling, creepy, and fast paced read! Highly recommend!

Not my favorite of Currie's middle grade horror novels, but still a good read. I'm also pretty sure at one point the characters in IT'S WATCHING reference an event from one of Currie's other novels. I definitely plan on doing some further research on Bachelor’s Grove cemetery. And that's one thing about Currie's novels that I absolutely love... that historical events/locations around Chicago are used. I hope I'm not the only reader that is left with wanting to learn more about what really happened. Currie does the slow creep of dread REALLY well and I appreciated how everything got resolved.

The one plot point that I got really hung up on was that multiple grownups clearly saw that three middle school aged children were without supervision and seemed to be in distress and.... didn't do anything about it. Even the ghost hunter they seek help from walks away from them at one point! While I get that all that had to happen in order for the rest of the plot to work, I just couldn't let it go as an adult reader.

Advanced Reader’s Copy provided by NetGalley, Random House Children's, and Delacorte Press in exchange for an honest review.

It’s Halloween night and all kids want to do is get dressed up and go out to trick or treat. All kids except Josie and her two best friends, Jackson and Alison. They want to make a splash with the school newspaper and write the exclusive about the haunted Bachelor’s Grove cemetery. So they sneak into the cemetery after dark to experience the drama first hand. The three of them get more ‘experience’ than they bargained for. When they get home, terrified of the cemetery, they begin to think twice about the story. However, it may be too late to get out. Josie’s house is suddenly unsafe - strange things are happening and suddenly the kids are fearing for their lives. Can they figure out how to make it all stop before the time runs out?

Lindsay Currie has written another page turner. Three very relatable characters - Josie, Alison, and Jackson - narrate the book and keep the emotions high and suspense intense. The three characters are different enough that any reader could connect to at least one of them. I loved the slow evolution of the hauntings which created the need to keep turning the page. The supernatural happenings throughout the story could really convince the reader that ghosts ARE real and perhaps even have you looking behind your door and under your bed before going to sleep. I loved the fact that the entire book is based off of a real location and the author encourages continued support of the local lore. I believe any reader who enjoys spooky and scary stories should jump on this one - before it disappears (just kidding - it’s not going anywhere).

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This was a fun middle-grade mystery/horror novel. The three main characters are likable and their close friendship is wonderfully written. The scares are spooky enough to keep you reading, but not too scary for the age group. I enjoyed the characters and the creepy ambiance the book emits. Perfect for fans of supernatural/horror novels that keep you guessing.

This book was AMAZING. I could not put it down. Read all of it in one day, in three hours. I need more of it!
I enjoy ghost stories, made up or real. The mystery was so well written, I was desperate for the answers. The book is full of suspense as each page turns. The characters were very likable and relatable. I loved the interaction between the characters too and how the book ended. I will be recommending this book to anyone with a middle school reader.

Another hit from Lindsay Currie! Cannot wait to jump into another!

It's Watching is a creepy story about a group of kids who go to a cemetery for a story, then strange things start happening. They continue to get worse and they must figure out why they are being haunted. It's a real page-turner that is hard to put down. If you are a fan of middle grade horror, you will love this book. I highly recommend it.

4.5

I loved the mystery, the trio's friendship, and the overall vibes from start to finish.

The lack of realistic adult interaction is actually one of the reasons keeping me from giving a full 5-stars. Especially Janessa because she's the paranormal expert but she wasn't going to clue anyone in or help them. Really?

The other was that they went around in circles a lot while trying to figure out the mystery. It sometimes felt like they did more talking about being scared and/or what to do next than actually doing anything. Add on all the Uber rides, too, and those moments fell flat for me.

But overall, I still loved it. Their friendship and how close they are to know all the dynamics about each other's lives is wonderful. The journalistic aspect and mindset was an interesting touch. Learning empathy and respect for those who have passed, their families, and their stories, is also beautiful.

While this can obviously be read any time of the year, I see myself recommending this more often come "spooky season."