#The Write Reads Blog Tour: Scareground by Angela Kecojevic

Scareground is a spine-tingling, dark and atmospheric adventure set in Victorian Greenwich which utterly captivated me as I joined Nancy on her thrilling journey to uncover secrets of the past.

Twelve-year-old Nancy Crumpet is leaping from rooftop to rooftop above the streets of Greenwich with a mission:  to exact revenge on a neighbour who has been horrible to her adoptive mother, Ma Crumpet.  Whilst up on the rooftops, she sees an unusual sight – a black balloon surrounded by black feathers and a whisper of:  Scareground, Scareground, Scareground.

Nancy senses an adventure and wants to share it with her best friend, Arthur Green.  In fact, Arthur is her only friend besides the sky.  Yes – the sky!  Nancy has a rare gift:  she is a Skyreader, someone who can communicate with the sky and tell what it is thinking – a secret she keeps to herself.  This is not the only mystery surrounding Nancy.  She was found and adopted by the Crumpets in unusual circumstances and has grown up in their bakery surrounded by love, flour and a dusting of intrigue.

When she meets Arthur, he shares that a fair is returning, something that hasn’t been seen in twelve years following a terrible tragedy. Despite their parents not wanting them to visit, both children are keen for adventure …  Sneaking out at night, they enter the Scareground, where they meet its rather sinister, yet charming, owner, Skelter Tombola.

And so begins an intriguing, spooky and exhilarating adventure that kept me completely fascinated and gripped, not just by the Scareground itself, but also by the mystery surrounding Nancy’s birth.  Can she uncover the truth about what happened to her birth parents?  Where did her gift of skyreading come from?  And, what is the significance of her silver birthmark?  I loved the building of anticipation, danger and fear as Nancy and Arthur discover more about the fair and its darker, macabre intentions as they race to uncover the truth of Nancy’s past.

I thought that the setting of a Victorian fair in the woods outside Greenwich was perfect:  spooky, eerie and ripe for unexpected frights and shocks.  I’m a huge fan of maps in books, and this one has a wonderfully detailed map which shows not only the locations mentioned in the story, but the different rides visited in the Scareground.  I felt that the description of the fair with its illusions, magic and rides – bringing both scares and delight – was brilliantly immersive.

I really liked both Nancy and Arthur who have a wonderfully strong friendship, able to withstand some difficult times.  They have a shared sense of adventure, show courage when overcoming fears and are there for each other when it really matters.  Whilst Nancy is determined to discover the truth of her birth and puts herself at great risk to do so, there is no doubt that she has been surrounded by a loving family in Ma and Pa Crumpet who clearly adore her, despite keeping secrets from her. 

An exciting, spooky and intriguing adventure with just the right amount of frights and chills, so enjoy curled up with a hot chocolate as the evenings darken.

Thank you so much to Dave at The Write Reads for inviting me to be part of this blog tour, and to the publishers, Neem Tree Press, for sending me a copy of this fantastic book in exchange for my honest opinion.

About the Author

Angela Kecojevic is a senior librarian, author and creative writing tutor. She has written for the Oxford Reading Tree programme and the multi-award-winning adventure park Hobbledown where her characters can be seen walking around, something she still finds incredibly charming! She is a member of the Climate Writers Fiction League, a group of international authors who use climate issues in their work. Angela lives in the city of Oxford with her family.

Do check out the other stops on the Blog Tour: