Skeleton Creek: Ryan's Journal by Patrick Carman

This is a spooky tale that reads like urban legend or maybe a little like the Blair Witch Tale.

Teens Ryan and Sarah grew up in the town with the creepy name of Skeleton Creek. It wasn't always named so but this name is all they know. It used to be a silver and gold mining site. There is still an old mining dredge, wooden and metal nearby said to be haunted. Apparently one of the workers got his leg caught in the dredge. This brought an end to the mining do to expensive law suits and investigations into other mis-deeds.

The pair have been getting in trouble together since they were small so its only natural that they should decide to explore the dredge in a forested area along the water at midnight, not during daylight. Ryan fell from the dredge after hearing weird noises and voices and severely injures his own leg. Forbidden to see each other ever again, they continue their investigations, slowly learning more and more about Skeleton Creek's past. The second book in this series is on order as of this month. Its a fast read, easy to get into, written in diary format - even the type looks like writing. It ends abruptly, one needs to read the second book. Ryan's father was involved in something in the past, so was his wacky, jolly uncle. There is a code being rapped out with metal tools on the dredge. Those are just some of the loose ends. As the story ends Ryan and Sarah are heading out to visit the dredge again, again at midnight. Ryan's leg is not yet completely healed. I didn't try this, but I guess the web addresses and passwords are real web addresses and can further the story if looked up. JDW 6/17