Close Encounters

Gr 5 Up—With this four-volume, in-depth exploration of urban legends, readers will never disbelieve a tale told around the campfire again. The author has aptly captured the historical and modern-day origins of famous hauntings, superstitions, close encounters, and mythical creatures using facts, speculation, and inquiry. To appease the most skeptical readers, Johnson uses headings like "Best Recorded Sighting" and "Evidence For and Against." If yet another rumor of a Sasquatch sighting seems cliché, in Creatures readers are also introduced to the Snallygaster, a dragonlike monster first spotted in rural Maryland; Canada's lake-dwelling Ogopogo; and the Jersey Devil. True-life tales of hauntings and exorcisms contain frightful details even horror buffs will wish to forget. At first glance, the series resembles many other similar titles on these subjects, with its reliance on stock photos and nonfiction text features, but the strength of these books lies in the fast-paced, question-driven text that is well organized and makes for a riveting read.