Begin in the fall
Start with Small Spaces. It introduces Ollie, Coco, Brian, and the rules they will need to understand the later winter, summer, and spring encounters.
Book Series · 4 Books
Small Spaces Books
In order from Small Spaces to Empty Smiles.
A four-book seasonal horror series in which Ollie and her friends face ghosts, monsters, and the smiling stranger who turns children's fears into traps.
Reviewed by the Bookroo Editors Updated
Reading order
How to Read the Small Spaces Books
Read the quartet in order: Small Spaces, Dead Voices, Dark Waters, and Empty Smiles. Each book shifts to a new season and setting, but the same friends, their earlier losses, and the Smiling Man's larger game carry across all four stories.
Sources: Katherine Arden's official quartet page, Penguin Random House official series order.
For parents
What Parents Should Know
These are genuinely spooky middle-grade novels, not lightly eerie adventures. The quartet includes grief after a mother's death, living scarecrows, ghosts, possession, child abduction, drowning and shipwreck danger, monsters, and menacing clowns and carnival figures.
The violence is not especially graphic, but the children spend long stretches isolated, pursued, and unsure which adults or surroundings are real. Confident horror readers may love the sustained suspense; sensitive readers may prefer daylight reading or sharing the books with an adult.
Where to start
Where Should My Child Start?
Where the story begins
First Book in the Series
Sale price
$958
Book #1 · Chapter Book · Ages 9–12 · 2018
Small Spaces
A ghost story becomes real as Ollie races against time to escape a sinister specter.
216 pages· 43,944 words· Est. 5 hour read
$9.99Save 4%
Paperback
Summary: Eleven-year-old Ollie finds solace in books after a tragic loss. When she discovers a ghost story about a sinister specter, her curiosity leads her to a chilling reality. On a school trip, she finds graves matching the tale, and a broken-down bus leaves her with a cryptic warning: "RUN." As night falls, Ollie and two classmates must navigate a haunted landscape, guided only by a mysterious countdown and eerie advice to "avoid large places." Will they escape the smiling man's grasp, or will their wishes come at a terrifying cost?
In reading order
Small Spaces Series
4 books · Published 2018–2022
#1
Sale price
$958
Small Spaces
Chapter Book · Ages 9–12 · 2018
A ghost story becomes real as Ollie races against time to escape a sinister specter.
#2
Sale price
$1697
Dead Voices
Chapter Book · Ages 9–12 · 2019
Snowed in at a haunted lodge, three friends face chilling mysteries and a ghost hunter's secrets.
#3
Sale price
$858
Dark Waters
Chapter Book · Ages 10–13 · 2021
A sinister game begins as three friends face a monster on land and sea.
#4
Sale price
$1597
Empty Smiles
Chapter Book · Ages 9–12 · 2022
A sinister carnival, a missing friend, and a race against time. Will they save her before sunrise?
Good to know
Common Questions
How many books are in the Small Spaces series?
There are 4 books in the Small Spaces series. It began with Small Spaces in 2018, and the newest book, Empty Smiles, was published in 2022.
What order should you read the Small Spaces books in?
Start with Small Spaces and follow the series order — the books above are numbered #1 through #4.
What ages are the Small Spaces books best for?
The series is best for ages 9–13, based on the age ranges of the individual books.
Which Small Spaces book is the longest?
Dead Voices (Book #2) is the longest book in the series at 47,967 words (236 pages).
Which Small Spaces book is the shortest?
Dark Waters (Book #3) is the shortest at 39,300 words (272 pages).
The people
The Creative Behind the Books
The people who bring Small Spaces to life.
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