The Scream

by Joan Aiken, Ian Andrew (Illustrator)

David's Gran has a mysterious liking for the famous painting 'The Scream'. She has strange powers, and sends bad luck to people she doesn't like. On her Scottish island home she was a 'Ridder' who could make troublesome rats run into the sea. Now she has moved to the city to look after her orphaned grandchildren, but her dark secrets have come with her...

Genres: Fiction, Childrens, British Literature

86 pages, Hardcover

First published February 8, 2002

About the author

Joan Aiken was a much loved English writer who received the MBE for services to Children's Literature. She was known as a writer of wild fantasy, Gothic novels and short stories.

She was born in Rye, East Sussex, into a family of writers, including her father, Conrad Aiken (who won a Pulitzer Prize for his poetry), and her sister, Jane Aiken Hodge. She worked for the United Nations Information Office during the second world war, and then as an editor and freelance on Argosy magazine before she started writing full time, mainly children's books and thrillers. For her books she received the Guardian Award (1969) and the Edgar Allan Poe Award (1972).

Her most popular series, the "Wolves Chronicles" which began with The Wolves of Willoughby Chase, was set in an elaborate alternate period of history in a Britain in which James II was never deposed in the Glorious Revolution,and so supporters of the House of Hanover continually plot to overthrow the Stuart Kings. These books also feature cockney urchin heroine Dido Twite and her adventures and travels all over the world.

Another series of children's books about Arabel and her raven Mortimer are illustrated by Quentin Blake, and have been shown on the BBC as Jackanory and drama series. Others including the much loved Necklace of Raindrops and award winning Kingdom Under the Sea are illustrated by Jan Pieńkowski.

Her many novels for adults include several that continue or complement novels by Jane Austen. These include Mansfield Revisited and Jane Fairfax.

Aiken was a lifelong fan of ghost stories. She set her adult supernatural novel The Haunting of Lamb House at Lamb House in Rye (now a National Trust property). This ghost story recounts in fictional form an alleged haunting experienced by two former residents of the house, Henry James and E. F. Benson, both of whom also wrote ghost stories. Aiken's father, Conrad Aiken, also authored a small number of notable ghost stories.

Reviews

[Abigail · Rating 3 out of 5]

A brief and chilling little chapter book, perhaps most suitable for upper elementary-school students looking for a quick read, The Scream is told from the perspective of David, a young Scots boy confined to a wheelchair after the car accident which killed his parents. Living with his uncanny grandmother, who has the "power," and who was once the "Ridder" on an evacuated northern island, and his tempestuous older sister Lu-Lyn, David is quick to sense the unspoken undercurrents of his life. When Lu-Lyn's conflict with some local boys spirals out of control and leads to tragedy, David and his grandmother must travel back to their ancestral home to lay her spirit to rest...

A prolific and much-beloved children's author, Joan Aiken is perhaps best known for her classic "Gothic" adventures, chief among them The Wolves of Willoughby Chase and Midnight Is a Place . The Scream, which features Edvard Munch's famous painting of the same name, was written very late in the author's career, and although it makes for an agreeable "shivery" read, it does not have the power of Aiken's earlier work. It has its own modest charm however, and although David's voice is a little uneven at first, the reader soon settles into the narrative.

[Laura · Rating 1 out of 5]

The book was okay I suppose. I think this book is more suitable for primary children, maybe ages 11? This book is told by a boy called David. After being in a car crash that killed both his mother and father, he has to face each day knowing that he will never walk again. His sister comes out if the car crash unscathed and basically hates everyone but her gran. She loves ballet. So when she gets to perform her dance of the Scream, She wants everything to be perfect. But terrible things start to happen, and David has to face the evil forces that have been unleashed and hopefully stop them in time. He can only stop them by traveling to the island where his gran was born.

This was a quick read, Which wasn't surprising. I liked the way in which Joan Aiken emphasized the accents of the characters. I though half the plot was nearly all gobbledyygook to me and the end? Seriously?! What happened?!?!
I actually own this book and Im thinking of selling it to Barter Books. Wouldn't recommend it to anyone over the age of 12 or 13. Basically because it lacks in interest and it was a boring read for me. Sorry.

[Liza]

I just luv dhis bk alot. I got it from dhe library which was really useful!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Chana · Rating 4 out of 5]

A cautionary tale about being true to who you were born to be, the place you were born to be in, the people to whom you belong; and a lesson in the dangers of wishing ill on others and/or of doing them a harm. An acknowledgment of the magical balance of all things in the world.
I liked it a great deal.

[Bookwurm637 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Unsure on how to rate this story. The first part was very eerie, you get the feeling of something dreadful about to happen, and it does. But with the death of Lu-Lyn the story kind falls apart. It loses the reader just as everything is supposed to come together. I don't know. Just kind of Meh.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

For a middle-grade book, this is pretty damn creepy. It's kind of hard to describe the story without ruining it so I'll just say it involves death, curses and a mysterious island. It was an extremely quick read at only 86 pages and I read it one evening before bed, which maybe wasn't the best idea. Joan Aiken is just ridiculously talented in terms of the scope of her writing and this is truly demonstrated by her ability to create a chilling and compelling narrative in such a short book.

[Ellinor · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm a fan of Joan Aiken's horro stories but this one absolutely didn't make any sense. The only good thing about this book was that it made me cross Scotland off my ATW-booktour!

[MB (What she read)]

how have I missed this one???

[Judy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just my kind of dark, ghoulish thing. Dark and legend-like with mention of selkies (here called silkies) and kelpies and giant waves. Aiken was great at this.

[Inge (Inge1990) · Rating 2 out of 5]

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