The magical story of a hex that goes haywire, and the power of friendship to set things right!
In the town of Howler's Hollow, conjuring magic is strictly off-limits. Only nothing makes Delpha McGill's skin crawl more than rules. So when she finds her family's secret book of hexes, she's itching to use it to banish her mama's money troubles. She just has to keep it quieter than a church mouse -- not exactly Delpha's specialty.
Trouble is, Katybird Hearn is hankering to get her hands on the spell book, too. The daughter of a rival witching family, Katy has reasons of her own for wanting to learn forbidden magic, and she's not going to let an age-old feud or Delpha's contrary ways stop her. But their quarrel accidentally unleashes a hex so heinous it resurrects a graveyard full of angry Hearn and McGill ancestors bent on total destruction. If Delpha and Katy want to reverse the spell in time to save everyone in the Hollow from rampaging zombies, they'll need to mend fences and work together.
Fans of A Snicker of Magic and The Witch Boy will love this funny, folksy, fresh debut from Ash Van Otterloo that proves sometimes it takes two witches to make the strongest magic happen.---from the publisher
288 pages 978-1338561593 Ages 8-12
Keywords: fantasy, magic, friends, family, witches, 8 year old, 9 year old, 10 year old, 11 year old, 12 year old, intersex, gender, identity, deafness, ASL, sign language
********************** Other reviews:
“Ash Van Otterloo’s magical debut captivated me from the first page. With funny, evocative prose that’s full of folksy Appalachian charm, rival witching clans, haywire hexes, zombie ancestors, and even a runaway outhouse, it’s classic fantasy gone cattywampus, crooked, and completely sideways. But what makes this book truly stand out is its characters, especially Katybird Hearn, who grapples with what it means to be intersex in a family where magic passes from mother to daughter, and finds an inner power she never knew existed.”—Jenne Abramowitz, executive editor, Scholastic Press
