Stuffed Into Darkness, perfect scares, adventure and friends for 9 and up

It can be a dicey thing when you read the second book in a series without reading the first. In a way the party has already started, you won’t know the characters, setting, or how the previous entry ended. What if it ended on a cliffhanger and you’re immediately thrust headlong into a series of events that leave you confused? Then there’s the other side of the coin where you jump into a book series that picks up as its own stand-alone story but also makes you want to read the other books involving the characters or story. Stuffed Into Darkness easily falls into that second category. It starts with a short prologue that is in a very dark place. Strange named creatures are speaking in phrases, they’re angry, planning some sort of grand attack, and are intent on causing pain. If this four-page prologue were colored it would be black, with orange, blue, and red highlights to draw attention to the chaos want to see happen, much like the cover of the book.

When the book starts in earnest we meet Clark, D.A., and Catherine-Lucille, three pre-teens/teens whose friendship is strong, but ebbs and flows at times. They are all normal acting kids who like to play games, have active imaginations, are about to head to summer and bringing their Stuffy with them. They all have a Stuffy or two, a small hand-crafted doll that resembles an animal. It is not a stuffed doll or stuffed animal.

The book’s chapters alternate from their perspective. One chapter is the way that the kids see what’s happening, and the next one is what’s occurring in the way that impacts the Stuffy, as well as the kids. You see, each Stuffy is assigned to protect a person, one for Clark, D.A, and so on. Our main Stuffy hero is Foon, he’s Clark’s protector that keeps an eye on him when the kids are asleep. Wherever the kids go, so go each Stuffy, and if one of them goes missing then something foul is afoot.

As the kids pack for their week-long summer camp in the mountains they’re of course, packing their Stuffy, even though contraband is surly to confiscated if the camp counselors discover them. The three arrive at camp to see some of the counselors from last year, as well as, some friends who they haven’t seen in a while but have gotten taller. First-time readers to the Stuffed universe won’t miss a beat at any of these friendships. Their relationships are quickly established and you’ll be able to discern how each friend fits into the puzzle and how the hierarchy of the counselors. The fact that many of the older counselors at Camp I Can aren’t acting like themselves is also evident. Add that with the chapters counting down numerically until Cabin on the Mountain and you’ll figure out that a large, nefarious scheme is underway.

Stuffed Into Darkness is a page-turner. Some chapters are only a page and because they alternate from Clark and Foon’s prospective readers are provided a two-way mirror of what’s happening in the story. At camp, a Stuffy might become separated from its human. The humans might think that somebody stole it to be funny, perhaps a counselor found it and treated it like the contraband it is or it could be the monsters that exist to challenge each Stuffy. Or maybe the monsters are out to hurt the humans and each of their Stuffies exists to protect the two-legged people. This is what the kids know to be true, but getting older kids, parents, or counselors to believe that is a tall order.

As I read Stuffed Into Darkness my mind kept going between a Toy Story, but at camp storyline. That was then amended to toss in a hint of Lord of the Rings, with elements of the Angels episode of Doctor Who, with just a hint, a tiny hint of Evil Dead. That final influence is only due to some of the brevity that the characters put in when there are elements of human danger or mortality-and the fact that I personally love that movie.

However, as the book’s journey really shows itself, it’s more about friendship, growth, and those unique bonds that are created over unlikely things. Stuffed Into Darkness also wraps up nicely. With just a couple of pages left you’ll be wondering how the book can succinctly finish the story. It’s going to end in a cliffhanger, there’s no way that author Liz Braswell can wrap this up in a satisfying way is what you’ll be saying to yourself. But she does. It’s a great book for upper-elementary school readers who want an adventure that dances with adventure, age-appropriate evil, and the perils of being in a middle school friendship with equal amounts of realism and charm.

Don’t worry if you didn’t read Stuffed, as Stuffed Into Darkness is a hoot that will leave you looking for the first book to see how the journey started.

Stuffed Into Darkness is by Liz Braswell and on Disney Hyperion Books.

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