THE CURSE OF EELGRASS BOG

Dark secrets and unnatural magic abound when a twelve-year-old girl ventures into a bog full of monsters to break a mysterious curse.

Nothing about Kess Pedrock’s life is normal. Not her home (she lives in her family’s Unnatural History Museum), not her interests (hunting for megafauna fossils and skeletons), and not her best friend (a talking demon’s head in a jar named Shrunken Jim).

But things get even stranger than usual when Kess meets Lilou Starling, the new girl in town. Lilou comes to Kess for help breaking a mysterious curse—and the only clue she has leads straight into the center of Eelgrass Bog.

Everyone knows the bog is full of witches, demons, and possibly worse, but Kess and Lilou are determined not to let that stop them. As they investigate the mystery and uncover long-buried secrets, Kess begins to realize that the curse might hit closer to home than she’d ever expected. She’ll have to summon all her courage to find a way to break it before it’s too late.

Razorbill / Penguin Young Readers, January 2nd, 2024

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"A deliciously offbeat magical adventure." ~Kirkus

★ "Mary Averling bewitches with her debut middle grade novel, The Curse of Eelgrass Bog, which straddles the line between slimy and sweet, concocting a fantasy world that balances snarky demons, magical bogs, concerned witches and awe-inspiring serpents." ~BookPage (starred review)

"The perfect combination of eccentric and eerie ... with a voice that is as bold as it is vulnerable, as authentic as it is sassy." ~The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

"A fetching, heart-stopping read with quirky characters, over-the-top depictions, a sinister setting, and the deep roots of family love." ~School Library Journal

"Readers will enjoy excavating layers of history in this marvelous mystery with heaps of magic and heart." ~Booklist

"[An] engrossing mystery... debut author Averling laces the overall setting with beguiling magical elements that make for an inventive adventure." ~Publisher's Weekly

"The Curse of Eelgrass Bog, a great read, is an inventive, atmospheric story involving magic and witchcraft featuring an authentic heroine and reflections on friendship and being your own person. Highly Recommended." ~CM: Canadian Review of Materials

"Equal parts creepy and magical, THE CURSE OF EELGRASS BOG is a surreal blend of magic and mystery that will leave you feeling as though you've stumbled across an undiscovered world of your own. It had me from page one!" ~Kalyn Josephson, New York Times bestselling author of the Ravenfall series

"Filled with magic, mystery, bravery, and so much heart. I loved it!" ~Lindsay Currie, author of SCRITCH SCRATCH and THE GIRL IN WHITE

"A wonder-filled tale that's at once creepy, twisty, and incredibly full of love. This is a keep-you-on-the-edge-of-your-seat adventure that will also open your heart." ~Alysa Wishingrad, author of THE VERDIGRIS PAWN

"Deliciously creepy and full of fabulous characters and eerie wonder." ~Stephanie Burgis, author of THE RAVEN HEIR and THE DRAGON WITH A CHOCOLATE HEART

"A bewitching tale of unnatural magic, THE CURSE OF EELGRASS BOG delights and mystifies, teeming with curses and crawlies, cobwebs and bog bones, and the butterflies-in-your-belly wonder of being seen the way you want to be seen. I’m cursed—most marvelously—to never love another book so much as I love this one." ~Heather Kassner, author of THE BONE GARDEN and THE FOREST OF STARS