Nine Red X’s

Click! – no one yet knew that these were the last moments of the fifth grade. One innocent class photo. One evening spent at home without adult supervision. And it started… For it soon turns out that the children begin to vanish one after another from the photo, only to be replaced by red letter X’s, and in real life, to the astonishment and horror of the protagonist, who is still visible: but for how long? Who’s behind it? The mysterious photographer? Their class teacher who didn’t take part in the session? Or perhaps it’s just a prank by her friends targetting the slightly eccentric Tosia, who adores suspense novels.

In this excellent children’s detective horror story the atmosphere of anxiety and terror is often interlaced with humour, and although the unusual ending doesn’t result in the ghosts and ghouls being made fun of, after reading it it’s hard not to admit that occasionally it’s good to scare yourself a little.

Żółta Ciżemka Award (The Yellow Shoe Award) for the best children’s and youth book published in 2024

The Kornel Makuszyński National Literary Award 2025