Now Entering Addamsville by Francesca Zappia (review)

Addamsville, Indiana is renowned for its ghost stories, enough so that the famous paranormal television crew of Dead Men Walking is filming a series of episodes there. It's only eighteen-year-old outcast Zora and her cousin Artemis who know that the ghosts are real. They're also the only people in town who know that residents of Addamsville, living and dead alike, are in danger from hellish monsters called firestarters, creatures that kill humans in deadly infernos and feed on the souls of their spirits. Zappia, author of Eliza and Her Monsters (BCCB 6/17) and Made You Up (BCCB 7/15), has packed plenty of surprises into a typical tale of high school, awkwardness, and paranormal Armageddon. Zora is not adept at dealing with the burden placed on her by having supernatural powers, and her attempts to recover from firestarter attacks are complicated by the anger and hurt she's bottling up about her recently disappeared mother and incarcerated father. Despite, or, perhaps, because of, her tendencies to shove people away, Zora is an empathetic and likable character, and her realization that she does have friends and a supportive family network never slips into the saccharine. The sizeable supporting cast is remarkably well developed, making the reader feel as if they, too, have lived in Addamsville their whole life. Plot twists will keep the audience turning pages, and a new discovery on the last page begs for a sequel. This is an excellent addition for any misfit or lonely reader, and it is especially enjoyable for lovers of spooks looking for a not-too-scary mystery. Reviewed from an unillustrated galley.