About
the Book When his two strange aunts arrive at Dredmoore
Hollow, eleven-year-old Elijah finds his life turned upside down. His parents
suddenly leave town, and he’s whisked away to stay with Serena and Agnes
on Moaning Marsh, where they run the world’s most mysterious beauty salon.
Not to mention their creepy hired man, his beastly pet, and the three unusual
girls who are their only customers. Elijah discovers that secrets and magic are
part of the Dredmoore family legacy, and there’s no hiding from your roots
no matter how deep, dark, and tangled they may be.
"There was
a fearsome storm brewing over Dredmoore Hollow. All day long I’d been
jumpy and belly-sick. The air was damp and heavy at dinnertime, and by dusk, a
wall of purple clouds rolled in over Clabberclaw Mountain. Those thunderheads
twisted and turned like ghostly snakes, a dark sign if I ever saw one. My
trouble bug, Jonah, lay on the floor of his tin house, belly up, overcome with
the fits. Every last one of his prickly little legs twitched at the air in
warning. I sorely wished Grandma Ester was on hand to interpret. No matter. As
omens go, a hundred twitching legs was about as bad as it could
get."
Riford
McKenzie lives in Redmond, Washington. Learn more about the
author at rifordmckenzie.com.
Peter
Ferguson lives in Buenos
Aires.
"Deliciously clever. The tone is wonderful; the
humorous, tall-tale voice sustained flawlessly throughout. No small feat of
magic, the story charms readers from beginning to end, casting a wickedly
satisfying spell. Bravo, Riford
McKenzie." —Karen
Hesse, Newbery Medal-Winning Author
The Witches of Dredmoore Hollow
"Set in 1927 rural New England, McKenzie’s
atmospheric debut contains all the trappings of a good dark-and-stormy-night
ghost story." —Kirkus
Reviews, July 15, 2008
"McKenzie captures the
rural setting in a romping boyish tone similar to Peck’s
A Long Way to
Chicago but with an added dose of the creepy and unnatural,
and readers should appreciate the exploration of a family with more than a few
black sheep." —The
Bulletin, August 2008
"Lemony Snicket and
younger Harry Potter fans will enjoy the twists, turns, and tone of this debut
novel." —Booklist,
August 2008
"Set in 1927, the book has
continuous action and piles of demonic
atmosphere." —School
Library Journal, November 2008
"A host of
special effects (plants that grow out of control, a creature that turns mortals
into stone, and witching sticks galore) creates a frenzied atmosphere, and an
odd assortment of characters (including a trio of apprentice witches awkwardly
doing the bidding of Eli’s aunts and a spunky girl determined to get to
the bottom of all these strange happenings) keep the action plugging right
along." —The Horn
Book Magazine, January/February 2009
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