Crater Lake: Evolution

Jennifer Killick's Crater Lake: Evolution is a creepy sci-fi thriller for 11 year olds about a boy who's certain his mum is no longer really his mum.

What happens

Lance Sparshott still has nightmares about the Crater Lake trip back in Year Six. Something happened there that nobody would believe, and it's left all of them scared of sleep. Now he's at secondary school and the old gang has drifted apart. Kat isn't speaking to him. Mak has a diamond earring. Only Chets still turns up to play online.

Then a huge blast rips through the university labs. A test creature has escaped from the labs, the town is sealed off and a curfew starts. Every evening the church bells ring and everyone has to be indoors.

Lance's mum has been ill for a long time, so he's thrilled when she suddenly seems better. She's singing and hanging baubles on the tree. But at four in the morning he finds her in the dark kitchen, pouring boiling water from the kettle long after the mug is full. She doesn't flinch when it splashes her face. Their cat hisses at her. And all she says is "Interesting."

That scene is properly chilling. Killick is brilliant at making ordinary things feel wrong, like a mum who's a bit too keen for you to go to sleep. The phones go dead, the birds disappear from the town, and Lance has to decide who he can trust.

It isn't all scary, though. Lance is funny and sarcastic and very honest about being a bit rubbish at things. His make-up with Kat on her doorstep is really sweet (she hugs him and he nearly cries). And his new friend Karim, with his big hair and his dimples, brings lots of laughs.

Worth knowing before you hand it over

It's genuinely creepy, with a parent being taken over as the central fear, which some readers will find very unsettling. Lance's mum's long illness and his own sleep problems are handled seriously. There's a bit of mild swearing too. For a reader who loves a proper scare, it's perfect for the top of this shelf.

What to read next

This is a sequel, and it'll make most sense if your reader has read the first Crater Lake adventure. If they're keen on another spooky Jennifer Killick story in the meantime, try Dread Wood, where four kids who can't stand each other are stuck at school on a Saturday when first a piglet and then their teacher vanish.