Eleven-year-old twins Hannah and Anna agree about everything—especially that they don't want to move to the creepy old house on Hemlock Road. But as soon as they move into the house, the twins start disagreeing for the first time in their lives. In fact, it's almost as though something or someone is trying to drive them apart. While Anna settles in, Hannah can't ignore the strange things that keep happening on Hemlock Road. Why does she sense things that no one else in the family does? Like when the hemlock branch outside waves shush, shush. Or at night, if she listens hard enough, it's almost as though someone is trying to talk to her. Someone no one else can hear. Someone angry enough to want revenge. Hannah, are you listening? Is the house haunted? Is Hannah crazy? Or does something in the house want her as a best friend—forever?"
Okay, sorry to say, in my opinion this book kinda sucked. I think it's meant to be this super-creepy story about a haunted house, but it's not in any way terrifying or emotional. The author tried to make it scary by writing from the point of view of the "spirits" inhabiting the house, but it came across weakly. I didn't feel a single thing while reading it except boredom. Part of the problem is that it doesn't give the characters any depth or explain them at all. It's like their main purpose is to be "the family that moves into a haunted house." The plotlines--even the ones that didn't have to do with the haunting--were recognizably cliché. Not that that's always a terrible thing; I've read plenty of books with clichés in them that managed to make them new and interesting. This one was just subpar. And I don't know, maybe it's just meant for a younger audience with less discriminating taste; I can tell you it's definitely not meant for anyone above middle school. *Sigh*. Anyway, if you...want to get it... it's at Kettleson.
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