Fear Itself

Gr 3—5—In the second installment (2011) in the series by Andrew Clements, Benjamin Pratt and his friend Jill are still trying to save their historic New England school from demolition by amusement-park developers. After the untimely death of the school janitor, Mr. Keane, the new hire, seems to be stalking Ben and Jill as they attempt to uncover the meaning behind a mysterious clue: "after five bells sound, time to sit down." With the help of keys given to Ben by Mr. Keane's widow, Ben and Jill uncover a peculiar document called a codicil. They soon discover that they may have found just the thing to save their school, if they can only keep it out of the hands of the creepy new janitor. Keith Nobbs provides skillful narration. Fans of the first book, We the Children (2010, both Atheneum), will be delighted with this second adventure and eagerly await the next one. Although it can stand on its own, listeners will understand the plot better if they are familiar with the first book. For school and public libraries.—Amy Joslyn, Fairport Public Library, NY