"Skeleton Creek" is a mixed-media book, I don't really know how else to explain its format. The story is written from the
viewpoint of a bed-ridden teen, Ryan, who has been investigating strange occurrences in his small town with a friend, Sarah. While they are together, he has a bizarre accident and is forbidden by his parents from interacting with her.
The book is their continued dialogue, with him writing journal entries and her leaving videos on the internet for him to watch. The websites for the videos are interspersed throughout the book, and it is up to the reader to read the book, watch the videos, and try to put together the mystery of "Skeleton Creek".
With the accessibility of the internet to teenagers and children, it seems like a natural way to make reading more interactive and compelling. Especially with a scary story, the videos make the book come alive in a way that just reading it can't. With this particular book, though, I think the videos are a little bit on the weak side. The acting is bad, and since it is supposed to be natural and believable, it is distracting. The videos come off looking like kids making YouTube videos to try to scare their friends.
Another drawback to the book is that, without giving too much away, the ending of the book leaves the plot majorly hanging. We have seen plenty of series books on the market lately, each one leaving something to be concluded in the final book, but this book leaves considerably too much unfinished. Carman had a good idea, setting up his book this way, but leaves the finished product not quite as good as it could be. That doesn't mean that it isn't an interesting book, though, and I think plenty of kids will still enjoy reading it, watching it, and trying to put the mystery together.