Daka Hermon

One of our most iconic childhood games receives a creepy twist as it becomes the gateway to a nightmare world.

Hide and Seeker

Kim Tyo-Dickerson

Digital Review Copy (DRC) provided by Edelweiss+ in exchange for an honest review.

Childhood can be full of terrors, both real and imagined. Imagined terrors are universal. Monsters living under the bed. Scary antique dolls that come to life. Real life terrors can be even more devastating in their individuality. Rats skittering through the walls and nibbling on legs and faces. A parent getting sick and dying. Bill collectors stalking your house. A beloved grandma forgetting your name. A friend disappearing from summer camp. 

Justin's friend Zechariah Murphy, Zee to his friends, disappeared from art camp 404 days ago. Justin counts the days since Zee vanished into the woods without a trace. Justin also counts the days, 397 to be exact, since his mom got sick and died. Sometimes his grief turns into a wish to disappear and Justin is in engulfed in anxiety. He panics, forgets to breathe, and feels paralysingly alone even though his best friends Nia and Lyric try to comfort him. He uses a puzzle piece from the last puzzle he was putting together with his mom to remember to manage his panic attacks and breathe. 

But then Zee comes back. Instead of relieving Justin of some of his anxiety, things are worse. Zee has come back different. Thin. Strange. Muttering. On a melting hot July afternoon in Chattanooga, the clouds in the sky gray and troubled, Justin, Nia, and Lyric are joined by neighborhood twins Carla and Quincy, classmates but less than friends, to wait for Zee to arrive for his welcome home party. Justin tries to avoid having a major panic attack. To pass the time while Zee's mom tries to get him to come out, they play a game of Hide and Seek. Little do they know that by playing the game and arguing and cheating to win, they will one by one disappear to the nightmare world of Nowhere, the place where Zee was, where their individual fears both real and imagined relentlessly prey on them under the control of the malevolent Seeker. Justin's anxiety has never been more powerful but now he is not alone in a terror-filled world. They are together. It is up to him to find a way to help his friends face their fears and find a way home. And the twist at the end might mean more dangerous games to come!

A horror story for all ages, but especially perfect for those middle grade readers who want to be scared in a Stranger Things or Stephen King kind of way. Mary Downing Hahn fans will love this, too!

One of our most iconic childhood games receives a creepy twist as it becomes the gateway to a nightmare world. I went up the hill, the hill was muddy, stomped my toe and made it bloody, should I wash it? Justin knows that something is wrong with his best friend.Zee went missing for a year. And when he came back, he was . . . different. Nobody knows what happened to him. At Zee's welcome home party, Justin and the neighborhood crew play Hide and Seek. But it goes wrong. Very wrong. One by one, everyone who plays the game disappears, pulled into a world of nightmares come to life. Justin and his friends realize this horrible place is where Zee had been trapped. All they can do now is hide from the Seeker.

Kristina Masone

This was a really cute middle grade book that I picked up due to the recommendation from GabbyReads. It reminded me vaguely between the mobile game Choices - "It Lives in the Woods" and the episode "We All Scream for Ice Cream" from the TV show Charmed. 

The book has enough horror for a young audience while still maintaining age-appropriate content and serious tones. It has great representation of young friendship.

Heather Heaton

Such a fast paced enjoyable and creepy middle grade horror novel. It had some stranger things vibes with a group of kids having to take down a monster in their neighborhood who feeds off their fear. I loved that the kids were all dealing withtheir own issues but still worked together to take downthe monster.

Jordan Robinson

Kyla

** spoiler alert **
           This middle grade was SCARY ASF!!! I WAS SCARED OUT OF MY MIND 😭😭😭

wait I wanted to know if Zee... He is back to normal I wanna know NOW TELLL MEEE DAKA HERMON IS HE BACK TO NORMAL!!!!🤬🤬🤬

I WILL NEVER PLAY HIDE AND GO SEEK EVER AGAIN MY KIDS NOT GONNA PLAY IT EITHER IDC IDC

ALL I WANNA KNOW WHAT THE FUCK THAT ENDING WAS ABOUT UMMM UMMM UMMM SHE WAS SUPPOSED TO BE NICE IG WHEN HER BROTHER LEFT HER AND BETRAYED HER IG SHE TURNED EVIL THAT BITCH SAID U WANNA PLAY A GAME.... I WAS LIKE AHHH SHIT HERE WE GO AGAIN!!!

THIS WHY U DONT BETRAY UR FAMILY BUT YALL OMG WHAT IF HE GOT INTO HER HEAD AND WAITED UNTIL SHE WENT HOME TO GO TO HER BROTHER AND PLAYED A GAME

OMFG WHAT IF SHE ONE OF THEM OMFG OMFG OMFG WHAT IF JUST THINK THINK THINK THINK

The seeker said multiples are out there waiting for them to play the game then BAM “Hi, Brother,” she says with a wicked smile. “I’ve been waiting for this day a long time. We have a lot of catching up to do.” Hyde stumbles back. “I … What are—” “You like games, right?” She marches up the porch steps. “Let’s play."

SHE IS ONE OF THEM IM TELLING YOUUUUUU

I literally changed my rating to a 5 star just bc of what happened fuck it idc

Emma Tuggle 

Great book, enjoyed every minute of it. Such a unique concept too.

Casie Blevins

Bring on the sequels! I will read them all.
What a delightful middle grade novel. The story line is complex enough to be enjoyed by anyone. The character development was excellent and every character made decisions that made sense and were a sound idea. I almost never read middle grade but this book was wonderful, and I'm glad I did.

Melea Mullican

6.43 on CAWPILE

I was hoping for a little more from this book. A solid half takes place in our world setting up the story. The parts with the Seeker and fears is only the second half. I wish we'd gotten a little more of that world and a little more of the world. Also, these kids felt really young. Yes, they're middle graders, but I don't know, it felt on the younger end of middle grade to me. Overly simplistic in places. I enjoyed it, but not quite all I wanted.

Becca Futrell

I'm gonna be honest with you, Hide and Seeker will probably be on my Top Ten Books Read in 2021, so take that as you will.

Tori

Never has a book tugged on my heart strings so much at the same time as giving me goosebumps from the creepiness. I had chills and tears in my eyes the whole time. This book deals with grief and fears so. well. 
I adored all the characters and their friendship warmed my heart. This is a new favourite, I love it and am definitely looking forward to more from Daka Hermon.

Audrey

Something is wrong with twelve-year-old Zee, who has returned after a year's absence; nobody knows where he was or what happened to him, but now he is distracted and violent, freaking out when he sees his friends, Justin, Nia, and Lyric, playing an odd game of hide-and-seek, and talking wildly about some danger that is approaching--and soon his friends are pulled into a shadowy world ruled by a monstrous, shape-shifting Seeker, forced to play a terrifying game of hide-and-seek where they will have to confront their worst nightmares in order to find their way home.

Hide and Seeker

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