Book Description 

After suffering a tragic loss, eleven-year-old Ollie only finds solace in books. So when she happens upon a crazed woman at the river threatening to throw a book into the water, Ollie doesn’t think—she just acts, stealing the book and running away. As she begins to read the slender volume, Ollie discovers a chilling story about a girl named Beth, the two brothers who both loved her, and a peculiar deal made with “the smiling man,” a sinister specter who grants your most tightly held wish, but only for the ultimate price.

Ollie is captivated by the tale until her school trip the next day to Smoke Hollow, a local farm with a haunting history all its own. There she stumbles upon the graves of the very people she’s been reading about. Could it be the story about the smiling man is true? Ollie doesn’t have too long to think about the answer to that. On the way home, the school bus breaks down, sending their teacher back to the farm for help. But the strange bus driver has some advice for the kids left behind in his care: “Best get moving. At nightfall they’ll come for the rest of you.” Nightfall is, indeed, fast descending when Ollie’s previously broken digital wristwatch, a keepsake reminder of better times, begins a startling countdown and delivers a terrifying message: RUN.

Only Ollie and two of her classmates heed the bus driver’s warning. As the trio head out into the woods—bordered by a field of scarecrows that seem to be watching them—the bus driver has just one final piece of advice for Ollie and her friends: “Avoid large places. Keep to small.”

And with that, a deliciously creepy and hair-raising adventure begins.

My Review 

I don’t read a lot of middle grade books, but this one piqued my interest because it reminded me of the old school scary stories I used to read as a kid like the classic anthologies Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark and the Fear Street books. 

Ollie is a great protagonist. She’s plucky, determined, and most of all she is a loyal friend. She behaves like an actual kid, so sometimes her decisions are a bit impulsive, but she also has a good set of instincts, which serve her well as she tries to outwit the supernatural entity known as The Smiling Man.  

This book is creepy, but not super scary. It’s perfect for the middle grade crowd who needs chills, but not graphic details. The narrative is so well written that there’s enough suspension of disbelief for the target audience to believe that Ollie’s classmates truly will stay scarecrows forever. 

I would absolutely recommend Small Spaces. There is now a whole series following Ollie and her friends facing off against The Smiling Man multiple times. I know that I’m going to have to make room on my TBR for the rest of the series! 

I received a digital ARC of this book from Penguin/NetGalley.