Trapped... cold... alone... Unconscious in a basement crawl space... Everything around you is dark, unwelcoming, and... moving..? Then, suddenly, something cold and boney grabs your ankle. You think, "What is going on here?" You try not to panic, but a part of you says panicking may just be the best choice. You scream and roll around in the dirt helpless, fear overcoming your body as you scramble to find a flashlight, matches, anything to be able to see. When you finally find a box of matches, you struggle lighting them. When one is finally lit, you can see something grabbing your ankle; a person, maybe? No. You summoned a zombie from Lyle House, and you can't put it back to rest. An empty eye socket, and the flesh coming off its arms. You can feel the boney grasp on your ankle, and you try to shake it off. Suddenly, you hear a voice, sounding familiar. Something else grabs you, but with a stronger hold. You look up to see that it's our friend Derek, trying to help you out. He tells you to concentrate, and before you know it, the zombie drops, once again lifeless. Think this is scary? In the book The Summoning by Kelly Armstrong, this is the everyday life of 15 year old necromancer, Chloe Saunders. This story includes a lot of action, and that's why I would recommend it for anyone who likes mystery-action books.
The book starts out as living a normal life, going to art school, writing plays... until she comes out of the bathroom to find a janitor, one she's never seen before, just standing there. He walks towards her, and she starts to see the facial features. A melted face, torn clothes, and black burn marks all over him.
He says in a terrifying voice, "Help... Me... Please..." It isn't until he's closer that she can realize that she can see right through him. A ghost? You try running, but he follows. She can see him becoming more visible and she can see his burned face melting behind, trying to catch up. She run up the stairs, but he came faster and faster. Chloe runs into a supply closet and slam the door behind, hoping she lost him. But teachers came instead. When she sees the ghost again, and he comes closer, she backs into the wall. He comes closer until they're face to face, and he moans, "Will you talk with me now?" Chloe screams as the teachers try to hold her down, and she squirms like crazy trying to get out. The ghost bends down through the teachers, and says, "Are you having fun, now?"
When she wakes up, she is in a hospital. She doesn't know what's going on, but she blinks and looks up to see her dad and her aunt Lauren. Chloe can see her aunt crying, but she's very confused. Aunt Lauren mumbles something, but Chloe is unable to hear. Lauren then says louder, "You have to go to a group home." Within the next few days, she is transferred to the group home that her dad and aunt picked out for her, called the Lyle House. When she gets there, she is showed a divided room. One yellow with daises bordering the ceiling, make up and hair gel on the dresser, and posters on the wall. The other was the exact same arrangement, but empty, dull, and gray. "This is your room. You will be staying here with another girl about your age," the nurse says to her. She looks around and can't believe what she got herself into... She would do anything to get rid of her unwanted powers. But there was nothing she could do, now...
This book is personally one of the best series I have ever read, and I am happy to recommend it to anybody. This book is very interesting and fun to read. If you do choose to read it, please enjoy it and if you like it, recommend it to everyone you know!
