Small Spaces by Katherine Arden Summary

Small Spaces by Katherine Arden follows eleven-year-old Ollie Adler, who is grieving her mother's death and finds solace in books. After stealing a mysterious book from a woman at a creek, Ollie reads about "the smiling man," a sinister figure who grants wishes for a terrible price. During a school field trip to a haunted farm, Ollie and two classmates must survive the night by following cryptic advice: avoid large places and keep to small spaces. This middle-grade horror novel blends supernatural terror with themes of loss, friendship, and resilience.

Katherine Arden is a New York Times bestselling American author born in Austin, Texas in 1987. She studied French and Russian at Middlebury College and spent time living in Moscow. Arden is best known for her Winternight trilogy set in medieval Russia and the Small Spaces Quartet, a middle-grade horror series. Small Spaces won the Vermont Golden Dome Book Award in 2020. She currently resides in Vermont where she continues writing, growing vegetables, and running with her dog.

Small Spaces by Katherine Arden is perfect for middle-grade readers (ages 8-12) who enjoy spooky stories with strong female protagonists. The book appeals to young readers dealing with loss or change, as it addresses grief and emotional resilience through an accessible supernatural adventure. Fans of creepy atmospheres, scarecrow horror, and mystery will find the book captivating without being too frightening. It's also ideal for readers who appreciate stories about friendship, courage, and overcoming isolation during difficult times.

Small Spaces by Katherine Arden is absolutely worth reading for fans of middle-grade horror. The novel won the Vermont Golden Dome Book Award in 2020 and has received widespread critical acclaim for its suspenseful storytelling and gorgeous prose. Katherine Arden masterfully balances genuine scares with emotional depth, creating a story that resonates beyond typical horror tropes. The book's exploration of grief through supernatural adventure provides both entertainment and meaningful themes about coping with loss, making it a standout in children's horror literature.

The smiling man in Small Spaces is a sinister supernatural figure who grants people their deepest wishes but demands a devastating price in return. According to the mysterious book Ollie reads, this creature made a deal with characters named Beth Webster's husband and brother-in-law a hundred years earlier, leading to their disappearance. The smiling man represents the dangers of desperate bargains and shortcuts to happiness. His presence haunts the story as both a historical threat from the past and an active danger that Ollie must face during her terrifying night at the farm.

"Keep to small spaces" is the cryptic warning given to Ollie Adler that becomes her survival strategy in Small Spaces. The phrase means avoiding open, large areas where the supernatural threats—particularly the animate scarecrows—can easily capture victims. Small, enclosed spaces provide protection from the smiling man's creatures that hunt at nightfall. This advice appears both in the mysterious book Ollie steals and from the strange bus driver who warns the children before disappearing. The phrase serves as both a literal survival tactic and a metaphor for seeking safety during overwhelming circumstances.

Small Spaces by Katherine Arden explores grief through protagonist Ollie Adler, who lost her mother in a plane crash one year before the story begins. Ollie copes by isolating herself from friends and immersing herself in books to escape her pain. The supernatural adventure forces Ollie to reconnect with classmates and confront her tendency to deny loss rather than process it. Katherine Arden weaves the theme of "denying loss" throughout the narrative, showing how Ollie's frightening experience teaches her valuable lessons about moving forward while honoring the past.

The scarecrows in Small Spaces by Katherine Arden are animate, threatening creatures that hunt the children after nightfall at Misty Valley Farm. These supernatural beings appear to watch and pursue Ollie and her classmates as they try to escape through the woods. The scarecrows are connected to the smiling man's curse and the historical hauntings at the farm, formerly known as Smoke Hollow. Their presence creates the book's most visually terrifying imagery, representing physical manifestations of the deals made with the smiling man. Avoiding these creatures drives the urgent need to keep to small spaces.

The Small Spaces series by Katherine Arden consists of four books, collectively known as the Small Spaces Quartet. The series includes Small Spaces (2018), Dead Voices (2019), Dark Waters (2021), and Empty Smiles (2022). Set in contemporary Vermont, the quartet follows three friends—Ollie, Coco, and Brian—as they face a series of horrifying games and schemes created by an ancient evil. Each book continues the story of their friendship while introducing new supernatural threats and challenges that test their courage and bond.

Misty Valley Farm in Small Spaces is the haunted location where Ollie's class takes a field trip, owned by Linda Webster. The farm was formerly called Smoke Hollow and is the same place described in the mysterious book Ollie stole, home to Beth Webster a hundred years earlier. Ollie recognizes Linda as the woman who tried to throw the book into the creek, connecting past and present. The farm has a history of reported hauntings and is covered with unsettling scarecrows. When the school bus breaks down there at nightfall, the location becomes the setting for Ollie's terrifying supernatural encounter.

Small Spaces by Katherine Arden explores three major themes: Denying Loss, Clinging to the Past, and The Price of Desperation. The novel examines how people cope with tragedy through Ollie's isolation after her mother's death and the historical characters' bargains with the smiling man. Katherine Arden shows the dangers of refusing to accept loss or making desperate deals to avoid pain. Additional themes include the power of friendship, the importance of courage during adversity, and finding connection rather than isolation during grief. The supernatural horror serves as a metaphor for confronting rather than escaping difficult emotions.

Small Spaces by Katherine Arden differs significantly from her Winternight trilogy in setting, audience, and genre. While the Winternight trilogy is YA historical fantasy set in medieval Russia with complex world-building, Small Spaces is middle-grade contemporary horror set in Vermont with a more accessible narrative. Both showcase Katherine Arden's atmospheric prose and supernatural elements, but Small Spaces is designed for younger readers with age-appropriate scares. The Winternight trilogy earned Hugo and Locus Award nominations for epic fantasy, while Small Spaces won the Vermont Golden Dome Book Award for children's literature.