In THE GHOSTS OF BITTERFLY BAY, for the past year Maudie has lived as a ghost in a remote cottage with her brother Scratch and best friend Kit. They spend their days competing to see who can scare visitors to the cottage. The latest visitors, a horror writer and his two daughters, take the attempts at haunting in stride and Maudie soon finds that Gianna, the girl she has been trying to haunt, is highly interested in the supernatural world. Things change when a strange cabin appears out of nowhere on an island. Maudie warns Scratch and Kit not to investigate, but they soon go missing. She is convinced that Longfingers, a character she has made up and now finds haunting her dreams, is responsible and that the cabin holds the key to their disappearance. At a loss and desperately wanting to reunite with the pair, Maddie defies the rules for interactions with the living and forms an unlikely alliance with Gianna in hopes of reuniting with her brother and friend.

The creepy appearing cabin provides an appropriate atmospheric setting for the big events in the story, which is filled with twists and turns as unlikely duo Maudie and Gianna collaborate to find Scratch and Kit while conquering Maudie’s own fears, rooted in the fateful events that happened the year before. The book delivers a well-developed supernatural world with a mix of mystery and horror and unique magical elements that will draw in readers seeking supernatural scares

In most ghost stories, the spirits of the departed are haunting the living. But what happens when ghosts are not the spookiest elements of a story? It has been nearly a year since Maudie, Kit, and Scratch became ghosts, and while they enjoy playfully haunting the visitors to Mayflower Cottage, there is a darkness that obscures the memories of the fateful day that led to their current existence. And when a creature from Maudie’s imagination becomes real and captures her ghostly companions, Maudie must break the rules and team up with an unlikely hero in order to get her friends back. This compelling middle grade novel turns the traditional ghost story on its head, first by guiding readers to empathize with the ghosts themselves, and subsequently by building an additional layer of fear on top of the narrative’s spooky foundation. Using descriptive language, brief chapters, and rich characters, the narrative sweeps readers into a version of the world that feels possible despite its fantastic nature. Because the interactions among the characters are familiar, readers will be able to recognize similar moments in their own lives. And, as a lightly spooky horror story, this book grants young readers just enough adrenaline to spark their own imaginations as they observe the steps the characters in the story must take in order to overcome their individual fears. Filled with adventure, heart, and danger, this multifaceted story is a positive addition to library collections for confident middle grade readers.

This is a beautiful, heartbreaking story written with so much voice and command of the pen. If you loved this author's debut middle grade novel, you'll enjoy this one as well!

It is always a delight to sink into a Mary Averling story. Mary's books are eerie and beautifully written, with characters you can't help but want to follow to the ends of the earth - or, in this case, to the boundaries of Bitterfly Bay, where ghosts haunt the living and creepy monsters scratch at the windowsills. This story is not your usual ghost story, though. Instead, we follow Maudie who, along with her brother Scratch and best friend, Kit, haunts those who visit the vacation cabin where they dwell. What follows is a bittersweet and touching mystery which unfolds as we learn what brought the three children together, and which traumatic events led them to this place. All is not as it seems, and I was riveted to the story as the pages turned. Overall this is a wonderfully creepy horror-esque mystery which will haunt young readers (in a good way!) for ages to come.