Silent Night – at a glance
The School Reading Lists’ five word review: A spooky, suspenseful Christmas mystery.
Children’s book title: Silent Night.
Children’s author: Emma Read.
Genre: Children’s fiction, thriller.
Published by: Chicken House Books.
ISBN: 9781913322793.
Recommended for children aged: 9-12.
First published: Paperback November 2026.
This children’s book is ideal for: children who enjoy dark, spooky Christmas mysteries with zombies and twists, but also thoughtful stories about anxiety, grief and family.
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Our review:
It’s Christmas Eve, and 14-year-old Masen is spending it in a rented cottage in Wales with his family, including his younger brother Jos and older cousin Conor (who thinks he’s cool). When the kids go to sleep in the caravan that night, excited for Christmas, everything seems normal, apart, maybe, from some strange mushroom-like Christmas trees in the cottage (but you can’t account for taste). However, when the boys wake up on Christmas morning and all the adults are gone, it’s clear something is very, very wrong.
As the mystery unfolds to reveal zombies, mutant plants and sinister scientists, the boys have to decide who they can trust, and whether that includes one another. They find themselves rescued by the enigmatic Gloria, whose dad is trying to find a cure for a mystery illness that is turning the population into zombies with a tendency to jump off cliffs. In the meantime, he is offering all the abandoned children sanctuary in a luxurious home complete with ice creams and hot chocolates. But all is not what it seems…
One of the most interesting things about the book is the character of Masen, who perfectly encapsulates that complex age of 14, having rejected matching pyjamas but still sleeping with a cuddly toy. He also illustrates the feelings of overthinking and anxiety many children experience and normalises coping mechanisms such as visualisation, helped by his mum.
‘Sometimes when I’m anxious, my brain hides in a safe place. It still works, but part of it powers down.’
Complexity is a recurring theme here, with characters never being painted in black-and-white, and we are sometimes left with ambiguity. Masen is a great example of this.
‘Mum used to say that I might not always understand people and they might not understand me, but I was good at noticing little things.’
Silent Night is a fast-paced, dark mystery with plenty of twists and turns. But at the end of the story, we realise the real message is about feelings, including grief, and how they are all an important part of human experience.
‘I want to feel things… all the things – happy and excited, but sad and scared too. You can’t have one without the other.’
This is a fantastic story which will keep readers in suspense but also has some important things to say about humanness, family and emotion, whilst always acknowledging the complexity of all three.
Our verdict:
Silent Night may be set at Christmas, but it is a dark, spooky mystery that will keep readers guessing.
- Read a free extract.
Many thanks to Chicken House Books for the review copy.
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