Shadow Grave

by Marina Cohen Narrated by Kirby Heyborne

Overview

Tuck Everlasting meets The Village in this delightfully eerie middle grade novel about a boy trapped in a strange town where secrets turn deadly and the unnatural lurks in the night.

Twelve-year-old Arlo is afraid of fire, creepy TV shows, and even his own shadow-but most of all, he's afraid of losing his mother to the disease that nearly claimed her life a year ago.

During a Thanksgiving road trip, a sudden collision with a strange beast in the middle of the road totals the family's car, and Arlo, his mom, and his sister end up stranded in a small town called Livermore.

But there's something off about this place. No one has a phone or a car, and the townspeople aren't exactly friendly. Without phone service to make a call for help, Arlo and his family stay at the Samuels' mansion, but inexplicable sightings at night set Arlo on edge. When he stumbles upon a dark secret that the town's inhabitants will kill to keep, getting out of Livermore becomes a matter of life or death.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

"Cohen blends inspiration from Tuck Everlasting and 'The Road Not Taken' by Robert Frost...in this excellent, spooky story about a[n] anxious boy who tries to keep his family safe. Cohen's writing is sometimes disarmingly beautiful...It's a fantastic show of craft." - Booklist

"Cohen dishes up another expertly twisted chiller. Shivery reading for under the covers…or, for that matter, in broad daylight." - Kirkus

"Cohen...brings shivers with the isolated, insular small town and its creepy residents." - Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

"Equal parts spooky and charming, this story offers plenty of suspense and relatable ties to real-world difficulties." - Horn Book Magazine

Kirkus Reviews

2022-03-02
There’s something not quite right about the residents of the remote New Hampshire town in which three travelers find themselves stranded after a car crash.

“Leave now. While you still can,” hisses the dour old woman who comes to the door when a shaken 12-year-old Arlo Davis; his little sister, Lola Davis; and their injured mother, Heather Flores, knock. Others in the strangely quiet, carless, electricity-free town of Livermore seem hardly more welcoming…though there does turn out to be a rambling B&B to spend the night in and, during the day, a graveyard, an abandoned sawmill, and spooky woods to explore. Further thickening both plot and creepy atmosphere with overheard snatches of conversation about secret meetings; flashbacks featuring a child parading through town in a deadly, smallpox-infected dress stolen from her dying sister; references to a mass grave with an eldritch resident; and nighttime glimpses of weirdly glowing figures, Cohen dishes up another expertly twisted chiller—inspired, she writes, by influences including Tuck Everlasting (although it is very different in tone), Robert Frost, and H.P. Lovecraft and set in a real New England ghost town. Most of the cast (its human members, anyway) present as White; Heather’s surname may cue her as Latinx.

Shivery reading for under the covers…or, for that matter, in broad daylight. (author’s note) (Horror. 9-12)

Product Details

BN ID:	2940178029848
Publisher:	Blackstone Audio, Inc.
Publication date:	08/02/2022
Edition description:	Unabridged
Age Range:	8 - 11 Years

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