# Small Spaces

**Author:** Katherine Arden
**Grade range:** Grades 3–5
**First published:** 2018
**Page count:** 226
**ISBN-13:** `9780525515036`
**ISBN-10:** `0525515038`
**Canonical URL:** https://readinglist.school/book/small-spaces
**License:** [CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) — please credit ReadingList.school when citing.

## About this book

New York Times bestselling adult author of The Bear and the Nightingale makes her middle grade debut with a creepy, spellbinding ghost story destined to become a classic. After suffering a tragic loss, eleven-year-old Ollie who only finds solace in books discovers a chilling ghost story about a girl named Beth, the two brothers who loved her, and a peculiar deal made with "the smiling man"—a sinister specter who grants your most tightly held wish, but only for the ultimate price. Captivated by the tale, Ollie begins to wonder if the smiling man might be real when she stumbles upon the graves of the very people she's been reading about on a school trip to a nearby farm. Then, later, when her school bus breaks down on the ride home, the strange bus driver tells Ollie and her classmates: "Bes

## Where this book is assigned

### Dorothy Canfield Fisher / Vermont Golden Dome Book Award

- **recommended** · 4th grade · Vermont — [source: Dorothy Canfield Fisher / Vermont Golden Dome Children's Book Award — official winners list (Vermont grades 4-8, annual since 1957)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vermont_Golden_Dome_Book_Award)
- **recommended** · 5th grade · Vermont — [source: Dorothy Canfield Fisher / Vermont Golden Dome Children's Book Award — official winners list (Vermont grades 4-8, annual since 1957)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vermont_Golden_Dome_Book_Award)

### Garden State Children's Book Award

- **recommended** · 3rd grade · New Jersey — [source: New Jersey Library Association — Garden State Children's Book Award selections (statewide children's-choice program; students vote, since 1977)](https://njla.org/garden-state-childrens-book-award)
- **recommended** · 4th grade · New Jersey — [source: New Jersey Library Association — Garden State Children's Book Award selections (statewide children's-choice program; students vote, since 1977)](https://njla.org/garden-state-childrens-book-award)
- **recommended** · 5th grade · New Jersey — [source: New Jersey Library Association — Garden State Children's Book Award selections (statewide children's-choice program; students vote, since 1977)](https://njla.org/garden-state-childrens-book-award)

### Great Stone Face Book Award

- **recommended** · 3rd grade · New Hampshire — [source: Children's Librarians of New Hampshire / NH Library Association — Great Stone Face Book Award (student-choice, grades 4-6; 20 nominees/year, annual since 1980). Winner + nominee rolls via the LibraryThing award/757 mirror of the official sponsor records.](https://www.librarything.com/award/757/Great-Stone-Face-Book-Award)
- **recommended** · 4th grade · New Hampshire — [source: Children's Librarians of New Hampshire / NH Library Association — Great Stone Face Book Award (student-choice, grades 4-6; 20 nominees/year, annual since 1980). Winner + nominee rolls via the LibraryThing award/757 mirror of the official sponsor records.](https://www.librarything.com/award/757/Great-Stone-Face-Book-Award)
- **recommended** · 5th grade · New Hampshire — [source: Children's Librarians of New Hampshire / NH Library Association — Great Stone Face Book Award (student-choice, grades 4-6; 20 nominees/year, annual since 1980). Winner + nominee rolls via the LibraryThing award/757 mirror of the official sponsor records.](https://www.librarything.com/award/757/Great-Stone-Face-Book-Award)

### Iowa Children's Choice Award (ICCA)

- **recommended** · 3rd grade · Iowa — [source: Iowa Children's Choice Award (ICCA) — Iowa's statewide children's-choice reading program (grades 3-6): students read the annual nominees and vote for their favorite. Winner list verified from the award's published record.](https://www.goodreads.com/award/show/5606-iowa-children-s-choice-award)
- **recommended** · 4th grade · Iowa — [source: Iowa Children's Choice Award (ICCA) — Iowa's statewide children's-choice reading program (grades 3-6): students read the annual nominees and vote for their favorite. Winner list verified from the award's published record.](https://www.goodreads.com/award/show/5606-iowa-children-s-choice-award)
- **recommended** · 5th grade · Iowa — [source: Iowa Children's Choice Award (ICCA) — Iowa's statewide children's-choice reading program (grades 3-6): students read the annual nominees and vote for their favorite. Winner list verified from the award's published record.](https://www.goodreads.com/award/show/5606-iowa-children-s-choice-award)

### Nēnē Award (Hawai'i)

- **recommended** · 3rd grade · Hawaii — [source: Hawai'i Association of School Librarians — Nēnē Award, grades 4-6 fiction (student-choice; program since 1964); winners 1982-2026 (neneaward.org + Goodreads winner roll)](https://www.neneaward.org/winners.html)
- **recommended** · 4th grade · Hawaii — [source: Hawai'i Association of School Librarians — Nēnē Award, grades 4-6 fiction (student-choice; program since 1964); winners 1982-2026 (neneaward.org + Goodreads winner roll)](https://www.neneaward.org/winners.html)
- **recommended** · 5th grade · Hawaii — [source: Hawai'i Association of School Librarians — Nēnē Award, grades 4-6 fiction (student-choice; program since 1964); winners 1982-2026 (neneaward.org + Goodreads winner roll)](https://www.neneaward.org/winners.html)

### Vermont Golden Dome Book Award

- **recommended** · 3rd grade · Vermont — [source: Vermont Dept. of Libraries — Golden Dome Book Award (formerly the Dorothy Canfield Fisher Award, est. 1957): Vermont's statewide grades 4-8 children's-choice program (students read the nominees and vote). Winner list 1957-2020.](https://libraries.vermont.gov/)
- **recommended** · 4th grade · Vermont — [source: Vermont Dept. of Libraries — Golden Dome Book Award (formerly the Dorothy Canfield Fisher Award, est. 1957): Vermont's statewide grades 4-8 children's-choice program (students read the nominees and vote). Winner list 1957-2020.](https://libraries.vermont.gov/)
- **recommended** · 5th grade · Vermont — [source: Vermont Dept. of Libraries — Golden Dome Book Award (formerly the Dorothy Canfield Fisher Award, est. 1957): Vermont's statewide grades 4-8 children's-choice program (students read the nominees and vote). Winner list 1957-2020.](https://libraries.vermont.gov/)

### William Allen White Children's Book Award

- **recommended** · 3rd grade · Kansas — [source: William Allen White Children's Book Award (Emporia State University) — Kansas's statewide children's-choice program (est. 1952; students read the annual nominees and vote). Winner list 1953-2025 per the William Allen White Award record.](https://wawbookaward.org/)
- **recommended** · 4th grade · Kansas — [source: William Allen White Children's Book Award (Emporia State University) — Kansas's statewide children's-choice program (est. 1952; students read the annual nominees and vote). Winner list 1953-2025 per the William Allen White Award record.](https://wawbookaward.org/)
- **recommended** · 5th grade · Kansas — [source: William Allen White Children's Book Award (Emporia State University) — Kansas's statewide children's-choice program (est. 1952; students read the annual nominees and vote). Winner list 1953-2025 per the William Allen White Award record.](https://wawbookaward.org/)

### William Allen White Children's Book Award

- **recommended** · 3rd grade · Kansas — [source: William Allen White Children's Book Award winners (Emporia State University), via Wikipedia — 2021](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Allen_White_Children%27s_Book_Award)
- **recommended** · 4th grade · Kansas — [source: William Allen White Children's Book Award winners (Emporia State University), via Wikipedia — 2021](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Allen_White_Children%27s_Book_Award)
- **recommended** · 5th grade · Kansas — [source: William Allen White Children's Book Award winners (Emporia State University), via Wikipedia — 2021](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Allen_White_Children%27s_Book_Award)

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_Generated from primary-source citations indexed on ReadingList.school. For the full HTML view with reading-list cross-references, see https://readinglist.school/book/small-spaces._