The Sacrifice Box

Gr 8 Up—It's the summer of 1982, and five close-knit middle school friends make a vow to one another, sealed with treasured childhood relics in a sacrifice box. It's a promise that kids in their town made back in the early 1940s—never come to the box alone, never open it after dark, and never take back your sacrifice. Four years later, the friends are all attending to the same high school, but have gone their separate ways. September, the main protagonist, is focused on academics and is trying to get into a boarding school on the mainland. He wants to study to be an engineer, and he's more worried about his mother's health and their financial situation than he is about his friend circle. People make fun of Sep, but he keeps his nose in his books and his ears tuned into his Walkman most of the time. But then darkness comes to the island, and people start getting hurt and even killed. Sep and his friends realize that something has gone wrong with the sacrifice box; someone has broken the promise. This is an intense, descriptive, and intellectual thriller that will appeal to older teenagers who enjoy horror and suspense novels. Sep in particular is a fascinating character with whom the readers will feel a connection.