By Eibhlis Carcione (author)
"Teeming with adventure, ghosts and kooky characters, a lyrical, magnetic mystery unfolds as a girl searches for her missing parents"
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Eibhilis Carcione’s Welcome to Dead Town Raven McKay sees its endearing protagonist embark on a quest to discover what happened to her vanished parents. Suffused in spooky atmosphere, it’s a tonic for readers who delight in magical mysteries with quirky charm.
Although twelve-year-old Raven’s new foster placement in Grave’s Pass sees her move in with a relative — Kitty, her father’s third cousin once removed — her nerves are palpable, and exquisitely described: “Her stomach knotted like a pretzel… She was a stranger who would have to face school and a new town”. What’s more, Grave’s Pass is a “town where the living and the dead live side by side”. A place in which ghostly “pooka horses” gallop by, and skeletons and zombies hang out with “humes”, as humans are known in these parts.
After settling in with the suitcase her mother had said not to open “until the time is right”, Raven discovers her new school is attended by humes and dead students. While her magnificent shiny-plumed hat draws compliments from some of her fellow pupils, others are less kind, and she also has to get used to ghosts passing through her.
When she sneaks out to watch the Dead Town Parade, Raven can’t resist the temptation to return to the town, not least because she wonders whether there might be a connection between the black butterfly on her mother’s suitcase and the black butterflies she saw around Dead Town. And so the stage is set for a gloriously gothic mystery as Raven undertakes a search for the truth, and her parents.
With a cast of charismatically eccentric characters populating its rich story world, Welcome to Dead Town Raven McKay is a welcomingly refreshing addition to the canon of magical Middle Grade novels.
A stunning, lyrical tale of loss that's also a gripping thriller and ghost story.
Read the full description
When her parents disappear, 12 -year-old Raven McKay is put into foster care in the town of Grave's Pass. It's not an ordinary town. It's a town where the living and the dead live side by side.
All her parents have left Raven is a battered beige suitcase with a faded black butterfly sticker and a note saying not to open the suitcase until the right time. But can she resist? And who among the living and the dead are her friends?
Grave’s Pass has two mayors: one for the living and one for the dead — an arrangement that implies that the two know how to live comfortably side by side.
But beneath the surface lurk dark desires, old mistrusts and vivid jealousies.
‘Lyrical and magical. A most original and delicious tale and the work of a poet.’ – Zillah Bethell author of The Song Walker
Eibhlis Carcione is a bilingual poet and teacher. Her first collection of poetry in Irish.
She has published three poetry books in Irish and has won many prestigious prizes. She has written hundreds of poems, often about the power of nature, mermaids, myths, magic, and the occasional ghost. Welcome to Dead Town Raven McKay was her debut novel.
Tonn Chliodhna was published by Coisceim in 2015, followed by Eala Oiche in 2019. The Arts Council of Ireland awarded her a literature bursary in 2021. She lives in Cork city with her husband, daughter, and two faithful canine companions.
Find her in Instagram @eibhliscarcione
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A stunning, lyrical tale of loss that's also a gripping thriller and ghost story. When her parents disappear, 12 -year-old Raven McKay is put into foster care in the town of Grave's Pass.
The LoveReading4Kids Editorial Team have read and reviewed Welcome to Dead Town Raven McKay and determined it is suitable for children aged 9-12 years old
Welcome to Dead Town Raven McKay features in the following genres: Fantasy / Magical, Children's and Young Adult Fiction, Children’s, Teenage and Educational, Featured Books for 11+ readers, Recommendations, Horror & Ghost Stories, Crime & Mystery, Adventure Stories, Featured Books for 9+ readers
Paperback. £8.09, down from the £8.99 cover price. In Stock.
Welcome to Dead Town Raven McKay was written by Eibhlis Carcione and published by Everything with Words
Welcome to Dead Town Raven McKay has 263 pages
£8.09, reduced from £8.99. In Stock.
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