Curse of the Eelgrass Bog by Mary Averling
Razorbill, 2024
Hardcover middle grade HR/F, 256pp.
With Gratitude to Edelweiss+ and Razorbillfor the eARC.
“Dark secrets and unnatural magic abound when a twelve-year-old girl ventures into a bog full of monsters to break a mysterious curse.” (publisher’s copy)
I enjoyed the whimsical nature of this middle grade SFF: the Unnatural Museum; the talking shrunken head in a jar named Jim. The story is so well-written: atmospheric; Kess’ feelings so well-described. It’s a beautiful story about loss, hard feelings—and tender ones. It is about desperation and the courage to confront the past—and the future. Curse of the Eelgrass Bog is at turns creepy and sweet, and is always strange. It brought to mind Jodi Lynn Anderson’s May Bird trilogy.
I believe readers of The Lost Library by Rebecca Stead + Wendy Mass will find similar mysteries at work; though this one is more unsettling; the story here more intimate, the consequences more deeply noticed. (Both insisting time move more quickly in their epilogues than is realistic.)
leslie d. 