What We Saw
by Mary Downing Hahn
Published by HarperCollins
on January 1, 2022
Genre: Middle Grade, Mystery, Thriller
Length: 208 pages
Ages: 8 - 12 years
Grade level: 3rd to 7th
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Literary Awards:
Bram Stoker Award Nominee for Best Middle-Grade Novel (2022)
Synopsis:
A chilling murder mystery lies at the heart of this page-turning thriller about a missing teacher, small-town secrets, and turbulent tween friendships from the master of middle-grade horror, Mary Downing Hahn.
When best friends Abbi and Skylar witness a clandestine meeting between a mysterious woman and someone in a dark van, they're thrilled. Finally, a mystery to spice up the summer!
Who could these people be? Why are they meeting? Are they spies? Criminals? The two girls are determined to find out. But then a local woman goes missing and is found dead in the woods. And Abbi and Skylar realize that their detective work could hold the keys to solving her murder.
Suddenly, sleuthing isn't so fun anymore.
As tensions rise and their friendship frays, the girls find themselves in increasing danger and must choose between keeping a secret or exposing a life-altering truth.
My Thoughts:
It's summer and Abbi and her best friend, Skylar, spend the hot days reading, swimming at the community pool, riding bicycles, and exploring beyond the limits of their small town. Then they find an abandoned treehouse platform in the woods and witness something (or things) that will change the trajectory of their summer and their lives. Determined to get to the bottom of the mysteries, Abbi and Skylar return to the 'scene of the crime' and find much more than they bargained for.
I've been reading Mary Downing Hahn since I was a kid. I loved her ghost stories and sometimes feel the urge to go back and reread them, mostly for nostalgia reasons, so when I saw that she had a middle-grade thriller out, I had to grab it and I'm glad I did.
This is a suspenseful story about two girls who witness something in their small town that will change their lives forever. Thinking they are the only witnesses, they attempt to figure out whether or not to tell someone, who to tell, and what will happen if they do come forward.
What We Saw reminds me a lot of 'Stand By Me', the film adaptation of Stephen King's 'The Body', though that's a hard comparison as this is meant for juvenile readers but I got similar vibes from it with the tight-knit friendship between Abbi and Skylar and the content that is aimed at young teens dealing with or wanting to be more open to the 'real' world.
Content warnings include bullying, drug use, poverty, adult relationships/affairs, divorce, child abandonment, murder, and more.
