Cattywampus

June 1, 2020
Two preadolescent witches from rival magical families work together to reverse a hex gone haywire. Magic is not to be performed in the McGill household, but when Delpha McGill finds the family spellbook hidden in a closet, she sets out to learn magic to pull herself and Mama out of poverty. Conversely, Katybird Hearn's family secretly practices magic, but Katy's own "conjure gift"--passed from mother to daughter--seems stuck. Born with XY chromosomes and androgen insensitivity, Katy is intersex; Katy knows she's a daughter but worries that her ability might not fully develop. The feud between the two families--the cause of which no one remembers--ended years ago, but the families, and the girls, maintain a polite distance. Everything goes cattywampus when an argument over a runaway outhouse(?!) leads to the resurrection of angry McGill and Hearn ancestors--warring as though they never stopped. The girls have to put aside their differences to make things right, or it will be the end of both families forever. The even, third-person narration switches between impulsive Delpha and levelheaded Katy, giving voice to each girl's insecurities and triumphs as she tries to quell her doubts about her place in her family, and in magic. Colloquialisms and vernacular bring the Appalachian North Carolina setting to life. Assume whiteness for most characters; classmate Tyler (who has a magical ability of his own) has two mothers, one of whom wears box braids. Katy's 6-year-old brother is deaf, and the family uses ASL. A spirited debut. (Fantasy. 8-13)

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June 29, 2020
Deftly weaving elements of magic and nature with a story of adolescent change, debut author Van Otterloo conjures a timeless contemporary fantasy. Mortal enemies thanks to a multigenerational family feud, Delpha McGill and Katybird Hearn, both 12, reside in Howler’s Hollow, a small Appalachian town. Loner Delpha, whose family is drowning in bills, is forbidden to use magic after a spell killed family members, but she’s desperate to make life easier for her and her mother. Popular Katybird, who was born with XY chromosomes and “hadn’t had much use for hormones like testosterone,” wonders whether being intersex will interfere with developing her witch family’s matrilineal gift. The two girls, one seeking to learn magic and one seeking to find it, soon find themselves immersed in their small town’s politics as they race to undo a spell gone awry—their inadvertent awakening of a graveyard filled with
generations of warring witches from both of their clans. They must race against time to return the zombies to their final rest before the zombies’ efforts to destroy each other result in a destroyed town. With an organic-feeling plot and emotionally resonant characters steeped in Appalachian heritage and “dusty family lore,” Van Otterloo creates a friendly, magical tale. Ages 8–12. Agent: Lauren Spieller, Triada US Literary.