Eden's Everdark

by Karen Strong Narrated by Tovah Ott

Overview

Hailed by Newbery winner Kelly Barnhill as “stunning, moving, and marvelously strange,” this tale of a young girl who stumbles into a magical realm ruled by a wicked witch is a haunting and ultimately uplifting middle grade novel about grief, family, and decades-old magic.

Still grieving the loss of her mother, Eden visits Safina Island, her ancestral home, as a healing balm. But when she discovers an old sketchbook that belonged to her mother, she's haunted by the images she sees drawn there. A creepy mansion covered with roots and leaves. A monstrous dog with dagger-sharp teeth. And a tall woman with wind-blown hair and long, sharp nails who is as beautiful as she is terrifying.

Days later, exploring the island alone, Eden follows a black cat through a rift in the bright day. She stumbles into Everdark, a parallel world where the sun never rises, where spirits linger between death and the afterlife, and where everything from her mother's drawings is all too real-especially the Witch of Everdark, who wants to make Eden her eternal daughter.

Can Eden find a way to defeat the witch's magic? Or will she remain trapped in Everdark forever?

Editorial Reviews

OCTOBER 2022 - AudioFile

Narrator Tovah Ott delicately balances grief and magic in this eerie fantasy audiobook. Twelve-year-old Eden can’t escape the numbness that has been consuming her since her mother’s death. When she visits Safina Island to connect with her unexplored heritage, Eden follows a black cat into the woods and becomes trapped in Everdark, a world of endless night inhabited by restless spirits. Ott voices Eden with a soft wistfulness that grows into strength as Eden finds power within herself. Ott doesn’t hold back on bringing the darkness and horror of this story into her vocal performance. Her creepy tone will wring genuine chills from listeners as Eden learns of the tragedies that lay the foundations for the nightmare world of Everdark and struggles to escape before it’s too late. N.M. © AudioFile 2022, Portland, Maine

Publishers Weekly

10/03/2022

Following her botanist mother’s death, 12-year-old Eden Gardener travels with her father to her mother’s birthplace, which her mom mysteriously left following a grave injury at age 12. On Safina Island, off the coast of Georgia, Eden meets her extended maternal relations—descendants of the formerly enslaved inhabitants who’ve owned the north side of the island since the Civil War’s end—as they prepare to celebrate the anniversary of purchasing the land. She encounters, too, a bevy of frightening creatures in her mother’s childhood sketchbook, including a hauntingly beautiful witch in a spirit world known as Everdark. After passing into Everdark through a dark portal, Eden learns that the Witch of Everdark wants to take Eden as her own daughter; it will require all of Eden’s wits, and the magic she inherited from her mother, to escape. Strong (Just South of Home) sets an impeccable scene, imbuing Safina Island with a turbulent history and fully fleshed culture that stands in stark relief to Everdark’s opulence. Though interactions can have an RPG feel, undercutting character connection, Strong portrays the island’s mythos, and Everdark’s extraordinary dangers, to bone-chilling perfection. Ages: 8–12. Agent: Patrice Caldwell, New Leaf Literary & Media. (Sept.)

Anne Ursu

"A deliciously creepy and suspenseful Southern Gothic story that engages with the consequences of the country’s monstrous past while also beautifully centering the story of a girl frozen by grief at the loss of her mother. What makes this book truly ingenious is the way Karen Strong shows that the salve to both these societal and personal wounds can be found in the same way: finding joy and love in community and a deep connection to family past and present. This is a phenomenal book."

Dhonielle Clayton

"A haunting enchantment, Eden's Everdark transports readers into a spirit world full of spectacular adventure, heart-wrenching truths, and a constellation of characters to be remembered long after the story is finished. A can't be missed novel working in the beautiful folkloric tradition of Black American storytellers."

Samira Ahmed

"Eden's Everdark hums with magic and mystery—a novel brimming with unsettling secrets, quiet beauty, and fierce love. Karen Strong creates an enchanted world that reminds the reader that their light can shine, even in the darkest, most desperate hours. A sensitive and lyrical portrait about the complexities of grief, the power of hope, and of finding ourselves wherever we are."

Hanna Alkaf

"Karen Strong uses her particular brand of magic to weave a spine-tingling tale of ghosts and grief, and how we can be haunted by both in equal measure. A beautiful story that embraces the darkness, but always makes room for those glimmering threads of hope and love to shine through."

Kelly Barnhill

Karen Strong has performed a magic trick, weaving a story built on heartbreak and hope, tender intimacy and the sweep of history, sinister ghosts and debilitating grief, and tied it to a place that felt so real I could taste the salt in the air, and feel the gentle touch of familial love. I felt a profound connection to Eden - her sorrow and pain, her deep need to belong, her deep and suffocating fear, and her profound courage. She is a clear-eyed and indomitable heroine. Eden's Everdark is an intricate tale, both terrifying and heartbreaking, and it asks an important question: how do we free ourselves from the ghosts of the past? And how do we prevent the evil of others poisoning ourselves? This novel is stunning, moving, and marvelously strange. I loved every page.

Hayley Chewins

"Gorgeous, lush, and sparkling with strangeness, Eden's Everdark is a heartfelt, thrilling story about what it means to reckon with the past—and fight for the future."

Heather Kassner

"As haunting as it is heartfelt, Eden’s Everdark is a fantastically eerie tale of bound spirits and eternal night, rooted in family and blooming with love. Strong’s writing absolutely shines with magic."

School Library Journal

08/26/2022

Gr 3–6—After Eden's mother dies, she travels with her father to Safina Island, GA, to meet her mother's family. Eden's ancestors were enslaved people from the Civil War era who cultivated cotton and sugar cane. After the war, the Gardner family stayed for generations, but Eden and her family have never visited. Eden's mother left the island when she was Eden's age, 12, never to return, though she carried forth the gardening gene, becoming a botanist and professor. When Eden finds her mother's childhood sketchbooks containing island flowers, marshland plants, and animals, she is intrigued. One sketchbook looks to be a dark mirror of Safina Island, with a monster-like dog, a black cat lurking, and stormy oceans and dark skies. Children drawn have deep indigo skin with tiny silver stars, and mouths frozen into eternal screams. A woman drawn is the "Witch of Everdark," and when Aunt Susanna tells Eden her mother created this spirit world from her dreams, Eden feels pulled to discover the truth behind her own nightmares. Eden finds a path into Everdark and, upon entering, realizes there is no way out, and that the witch wishes to claim her spirit. With stunningly descriptive prose, Strong has created two worlds, both Safina Island and the spirit world that entraps Eden. Eden must face her grief bravely, while holding tight to her family and their roots. VERDICT Darkly suspenseful; both readers of fantasy and those looking for a creepy, ghostly tale will find much to keep them rooted in this electric novel.—Michele Shaw

OCTOBER 2022 - AudioFile

Narrator Tovah Ott delicately balances grief and magic in this eerie fantasy audiobook. Twelve-year-old Eden can’t escape the numbness that has been consuming her since her mother’s death. When she visits Safina Island to connect with her unexplored heritage, Eden follows a black cat into the woods and becomes trapped in Everdark, a world of endless night inhabited by restless spirits. Ott voices Eden with a soft wistfulness that grows into strength as Eden finds power within herself. Ott doesn’t hold back on bringing the darkness and horror of this story into her vocal performance. Her creepy tone will wring genuine chills from listeners as Eden learns of the tragedies that lay the foundations for the nightmare world of Everdark and struggles to escape before it’s too late. N.M. © AudioFile 2022, Portland, Maine

Kirkus Reviews

2022-06-08
A grieving girl accidentally slips into an alternate magical world inhabited by eerie, mystical creatures from her dead mother’s sketchbook.

Twelve-year-old Eden is mourning the loss of her mother when she and her father make their first visit to Safina Island, off the coast of Georgia, to meet her maternal relatives. Eden’s connection to them is tenuous, mostly consisting of the birthday cards containing pressed flowers sent by her great-aunt; Eden’s mother left the island when she was 12 following a bad accident, and she never wanted to return. Eden and her dad are going to participate in the annual celebration honoring the family’s purchase of half the island after they received their freedom from slavery. While staying in her mother’s childhood room, Eden looks through old boxes in the closet and finds, among the many sketchbooks containing nature drawings, one filled with creepy and terrifying images of a land called Everdark. Eden starts traveling there in her dreams until one day, while following a black cat around the island, she enters a portal, becomes trapped in this world, and must use her own hidden magic to find a way out. The complex narrative portrays multifaceted characters as it weaves together history, magic, and grief. Readers will enjoy the strong pacing along with learning about the island’s well-described mythology and root magic. Most characters are Black.

A textured, suspenseful story that traverses an island’s timeline and a family’s heritage. (Paranormal. 9-13)

Product Details

BN ID:	2940175556262
Publisher:	Simon & Schuster
Publication date:	09/06/2022
Edition description:	Unabridged
Age Range:	8 - 11 Years

Read an Excerpt

Chapter One: Glass Flower CHAPTER ONE Glass Flower
Eden slid her finger on the map to the blue expanse of the Atlantic Ocean. She stared at the sea islands off the coast of Georgia. The largest island was out farther than the rest, an isolated mass. This was Safina Island, her mother’s birthplace.

Her father had bought the map at a North Carolina rest stop and designated her as the navigator instead of using the app on his phone. It was an opportunity for Eden to learn the geography of intersecting routes and identify points of interest.

On their road trip, they ate junk food from vending machines and drank too much soda. They sang songs and laughed at their off-key melodies. It could have been easy to pretend that it had always been just the two of them, but a weight pressed heavy on Eden’s chest like a block of ice. The cold truth of her mother’s death.

She had endured the first days of shock with denial. Then a bitter acceptance when the house stopped being full of strangers offering their condolences with dishes wrapped in foil. During this time her father had treated Eden like a glass flower, a fragile girl who could break at the slightest touch. But when the record heat of the summer turned into the chill of winter snow, Eden’s father slowly transferred his energy back into his work. A professor of evolutionary biology, he was teaching a full course load for the semester. Dr. Langston Leopold was keeping himself very busy.

Today he was dressed similarly to Eden in a graphic tee and jeans—much different from his usual uniform of oxford shirt and khaki pants. But he still wore his tortoiseshell glasses that complemented his brown skin.

“Saw a sign for a diner a few miles back,” he said. “Should be coming up soon.”

They were traveling the local highway through the coastal town of Marien, Georgia. The trees were different from the ones in Maryland. The pines had skinny trunks, and wide oaks dripped with Spanish moss. Palmettos clustered together as if sharing secrets. Eden hadn’t seen any of the red clay that she had read about online. Instead the soil was sandy brown as if the beach had invaded the mainland.

“Do you think this place will have fried green tomatoes?” Eden asked.

“I’ll bet they do.” Dr. Leopold chuckled, but then his face turned solemn. “You still feeling okay about this trip? It’s not too much, is it?”

A knot formed in Eden’s stomach. Those words again: too much.

They had lost the same person and been through the same journey together. Couldn’t he understand this was her chance to meet her mother’s family? Eden couldn’t explain how a place she had never visited could feel so much like home. How could she describe that kind of yearning to her father? Nothing could ever be too much for Eden. Not even the universe could fill the empty space her mother had left.

“Remember, you have to tell me.” Dr. Leopold stumbled in her silence. “If you’re not okay, you have to let me know.”

He was treating Eden like a glass flower again, so different from her mother, who always trusted that she had the strength to handle things. To bend but not break to whatever the world gave her. Strong enough not to shatter into tiny shards.

“Dad, this is my family,” Eden finally said. “This is my chance to finally meet them.”

Dr. Leopold ran his hand over his cropped curls, a nervous tic. “I just don’t want this visit to make you sad.”

“I’m already sad,” Eden answered.

“I know,” her father stated quietly.

They were still in grief counseling. It had been good for both of them, although difficult. Eden had spent the first session watching her father weep. It was in a recent session that the decision had been made to visit Safina Island as a healing balm. Dr. Leopold was reluctant about the idea at first, but when Eden persisted, he finally agreed.

Her mother’s childhood on the island was murky. Eden knew Safina Island was where her enslaved ancestors had cultivated cotton and sugar cane. It was these ancestors who’d stayed on the island during the Civil War when their enslavers had fled. When the federal government had granted them land after the war, they made the island their home. When the former enslavers returned, the federal government stripped the free people of their granted land. But her mother’s family had been able to purchase the entire north side of Safina Island.

The Gardener family had stayed. They’d stayed through famine and hurricanes. They’d stayed through failed attempts of golf courses and luxury hotels. The Gardener family persevered and had lived on their land for over two centuries.

Every spring her mother’s family held a celebration on Safina Island. Eden knew about these anniversaries of the Gardener land purchase from the invitations in pale blue envelopes sent by her great-aunt. The same one who also sent Eden birthday cards every year with a pressed island flower and a crisp twenty-dollar bill. Her mother had never wanted to attend these celebrations, so Eden had never been given a chance to visit Safina Island.

Now she was going to meet her mother’s family and learn all the things that were blurred in her history.

Her mother had been twelve years old when she left the island of her ancestors. The same age Eden was now. More than anything, she wanted to know why her mother never wanted to return to her birthplace.

Elvira’s Diner was tucked off a dusty side road. A few cars were parked in the small lot. Most of them had Georgia plates with faded peach decals. Eden decided this was a place to eat for the coastal town’s locals.

When they entered the diner, the mostly brown faces of the patrons turned to gawk at them, but after a few awkward seconds, they returned to their conversations and food.

An older light-skinned woman in a pink apron greeted them. “Y’all want a table?”

“That would be great,” Eden’s father said.

The waitress scanned the parking lot. “It’s just y’all two?”

Dr. Leopold put his arm around Eden’s shoulder like a protective shield. “Yes, it’s just me and my daughter.”

The waitress led them to a leather booth with deeply cracked seats sealed with red masking tape. Eden slid in and quickly grabbed a menu.

“I’m going to find the restroom. Be back,” her father said.

Eden waited until he was gone before she opened her macramé bag. She pulled out her phone and called her best friend. Natalie answered immediately.

“Are you there yet?” she asked.

“Almost. We’re at a diner now. I don’t think it’s far from the dock.”

“Is your dad still acting weird?” Natalie asked.

“Yep,” Eden answered.

Hearing Natalie’s voice instantly calmed her. Natalie had been Eden’s best friend since her first day at Cathedral, the Maryland private school they both attended. They quickly became chosen sisters. The Chen household was a second home to Eden. At Lunar New Year, she got her own red envelope. She would help Natalie’s father put decadent fillings of minced pork and chives into dumplings, then watch him fry them to perfection. Eden would sit on Natalie’s thick rug and eat them until her stomach stretched tight in her clothes.

In the days after her mother’s death, Natalie had wrapped Eden in a quilt to keep the wolves of grief away. Her best friend’s family had been among the small number of people who wore white in the sea of black at the memorial service.

Now Eden envisioned Natalie in her bedroom, sitting on her thick rug wrapped in a plush terry-cloth robe with her pet rabbit, Fiver, on her lap. Surrounded by macramé cords and wooden beads for her latest craft project, she would have a cup of tea within reach for inspiration.

“I have to admit, I’m surprised your dad didn’t turn around and drive you straight back to Maryland. This is true progress,” Natalie said.

“It’s too late for that now,” Eden replied. “My uncle is coming to pick us up.”

Since Safina Island had no bridges connecting it to the mainland, they would have to cross the water in her great-uncle’s boat.

“Spring break will be so boring without you.” Natalie paused. “Are you nervous? You’ll be meeting so many people at once.”

Eden was worried about this. Not only was she going to her mother’s island for the first time, but she would also be meeting that entire side of her family. She hoped that she wouldn’t disappoint them.

“Aunt Susanna has always wanted us to come visit. It’ll be okay.”

“That’s true,” Natalie agreed. “But I’m going to miss you! I hope I don’t get so bored I decide to cut my own bangs. You won’t even be here to stop me.”

“Stop being so dramatic.” Eden laughed. “I’ll only be gone for a few days. You won’t even get a chance to miss me.”

Natalie was quiet for several moments, but she spoke again before Eden thought they had been disconnected.

“You’ve always wanted to go to Safina Island,” she said softly. “I’m so happy for you.”

After Eden said goodbye to her best friend, she pulled out a photograph. Last night while packing for her trip, she had taken it out of the frame she kept on her nightstand. It was the same photograph she had chosen for the memorial service program.

Her mother had been in the summer garden drenched in sunshine. They had just returned from Thyme After Thyme Nursery with packets of seeds. Eden stared at the smudges of dirt on her mother’s collarbone and cheek. This was how she wanted to remember her. She turned it over and stared at the two words in her father’s handwriting: Beloved Nora.

Dr. Nora Gardener, the botanist and professor. The woman who kept her family name when she married. The mother who filled up Eden’s bedroom with glass globes full of soil and succulents.

A prick of pain twisted in Eden’s eyes. Blinking back tears, she pushed the icy sadness away. This was the thing she had learned about grief. It gave no warning. She was never prepared for its sharp sting.

“Eden?” Her father’s voice brought her back to the realm of the diner.

Dr. Leopold was standing beside her, his face full of concern. He stared at the photograph in her hands.

“Your mother was very happy that day,” he said quietly.

Eden sniffed and put the photograph back in her purse as her father slid back into the booth and picked up the diner menu.

“Looks like they don’t have fried green tomatoes,” her father said, a slight disappointment in his voice.

Eden peered out the diner window. This was the closest she had ever been to her mother’s birthplace. Soon she would be on Safina Island, and questions bubbled up her throat.

“Dad?”

Her father lowered his menu. “Are you okay?”

“Why did Mom never want to come back here?”

Her father hesitated. “It’s complicated.”

Eden swallowed. “Are... are the Gardeners bad people?”

“No, of course not. They’re good, hardworking people, and your mother loved her family. It was hard after the divorce when her father, your grandfather, left the island.” Dr. Leopold ran a hand over his cropped curls. “Then she was in an accident and had to go to the mainland to recover. I think she never came back because all those memories haunted her.”

“She never talked to me about it,” Eden said. “Do you know what kind of accident—”

They were interrupted by the waitress arriving at their table with two glasses of sweet tea. “These drinks on the house. Y’all done figured out what to eat yet?”

Dr. Leopold ordered the special, and Eden ordered a cheeseburger and fries. Her father avoided meeting Eden’s eyes, and she knew that he wouldn’t talk any more about her mother in this public place. For now, her questions would have to remain unanswered until she arrived on the island.

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