What's in the Walls? - (Orca Shivers) by Julie Champagne (Paperback)

About the Book

In this short horror novel for middle-grade readers, ten-year-old Zack discovers a hidden horror after he hears a weird noise coming from the walls of his school gymnasium.

Book Synopsis

Scritch, scratch...

One day after floor hockey practice, ten-year-old Zack hears some strange sounds in the school gym. But he's the only one in there. It sounds like scratching...and it's coming from inside the walls. As he investigates, he wonders what could be making the sound. Giant spiders? The ghost of a construction worker buried alive when the school was built? Zack soon discovers that the school custodian has not been doing a good job of keeping the school clean.

The epub edition of this title is fully accessible.

From the Back Cover

Whatever you've imagined, this is worse. One day after floor-hockey practice, ten-year-old Zack hears some sounds in the school gym. But he's the only one in there. It sounds like scratching...and it's coming from inside the walls. What could be making the sound? Zack soon discovers that the school custodian may not have been doing a good job of keeping the school clean--and something uninvited has moved in.

Review Quotes

"This Goosebumps-like horror story presents the importance of friendships, asking questions, and being curious while also showing the consequences of recklessly ignoring the rules. Bigué's illustrations perfectly complement the eerie mood and carry over into the reading experience--for instance, when the main characters are trapped in the dark, the pages are black with white text. Middle-grade readers who have read through every Goosebumps they can get their hands on will appreciate this."

-- "Booklist"

About the Author

In 2010, Julie Champagne left her career in marketing to become a full-time writer. She was an independent journalist for several years, writing articles on a variety of topics. She is now the editor-in-chief of the teen magazine Curium and has written a number of children's books. She lives in Mirabel, Quebec.

Geneviève Bigué is an illustrator and comic artist based in Montreal. With a background in traditional animation and graphic design, she now works in many fields, including books, advertising and the cultural arts scene. What's in the Walls? is the first book for young readers that she illustrated. Since then she has published her first graphic novel as an author/illustrator, Parfois les lacs brûlent (When the Lake Burns), which has won many awards, including the 2023 Prix des libraires du Québec. It was also nominated for the 2023 Governor General's Literary Award in Young People's Literature--Illustrated Books (French).