Now entering Addamsville

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Title:

Now entering Addamsville

Author:

Zappia, Francesca author.

ISBN:

9780062935274

Edition:

1st ed.

Physical Description:

357 pages : illustrations ; 22 cm.

Subject Term:

Arson -- Fiction.

Reality television programs -- Fiction.

Psychic ability -- Fiction.

Murder -- Fiction.

Haunted places -- Fiction.

Ghost stories.

Geographic Term:

Indiana -- Fiction.

Genre:

Mystery fiction.

Summary:

Someone burns down the home of the school janitor and he dies in the blaze. Everyone in Addamsville, Indiana, points a finger at Zora Novak, despite the fact she has been on the straight and narrow since her father was thrown in jail. Addamsville has a history of tragedy, and thirty years ago a similar string of fires left several townspeople dead. The arsonist was never caught. Teaming up with her cousin Artemis, an annoying self-proclaimed Addamsville historian, Zora must deal with a popular ghost-hunting television show riling up the townspeople, almost no support from her family and friends, and rumors spinning out of control. Getting people to believe the truth might prove to be impossible.

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Library	Call Number	Status
Searching... Hardwood Creek Library (Forest Lake)	TEEN FICTION ZAP	Searching... Unknown
Searching... R.H. Stafford Library (Woodbury)	TEEN FICTION ZAP	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Stillwater Public Library	TEEN FICTION ZAP	Searching... Unknown

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Summary

"A darkly humorous, rapid-fire read." --Kirkus Reviews

Stranger Things meets Buffy the Vampire Slayer in this contemporary novel from Francesca Zappia, the acclaimed author of Eliza and Her Monsters.

When Zora Novak is framed for a crime she didn't commit, she must track down the true culprit and clear her name before it's too late. But in a small town obsessed with ghosts, getting people to believe the truth might prove to be impossible.

When someone burns down the home of the school janitor and he dies in the blaze, everyone in Addamsville, Indiana, points a finger at Zora. Never mind that Zora has been on the straight and narrow since her father was thrown in jail. With everyone looking for evidence against her, her only choice is to uncover the identity of the real killer.

There's one big problem--Zora has no leads. No one does. Addamsville has a history of tragedy, and thirty years ago a similar string of fires left several townspeople dead. The arsonist was never caught.

Now, Zora must team up with her cousin Artemis--an annoying self-proclaimed Addamsville historian--to clear her name. But with a popular ghost-hunting television show riling up the townspeople, almost no support from her family and friends, and rumors spinning out of control, things aren't looking good. Zora will have to read between the lines of Addamsville's ghost stories before she becomes one herself.

Acclaimed author Francesca Zappia has a perfectly pitched teen voice that shines in this inventive novel. Now Entering Addamvsille is perfect for fans of Brittany Cavallaro, Victoria Schwab, Riverdale, Truly Devious, and The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina.

Includes interior spot illustrations from the author.

Reviews (3)

Publisher's Weekly Review

In this satisfyingly creepy tale, a girl capable of seeing ghosts in a small Indiana town teeming with them risks everything to hunt firestarters, malevolent spirits who possess the living and feed off the dead. Living with her sister in a trailer on the town's outskirts after her mother disappeared and her father went to jail, Zora Novak, 18, is an outcast. After a disastrous encounter cost her two fingers and gave her a reputation as an arsonist, she turned from hunting firestarters alone to pursuing good deeds. When a new firestarter murders someone and Zora becomes a suspect, she reluctantly investigates, with the help of her cousin Artemis, an expert in the town's spooky history. Further complicating things, a popular ghost-hunting reality show arrives up to film an episode, and Zora can't afford for them to get in her way. Now she has to find the most dangerous firestarter of her career, one unexpectedly tied to Addamsville's most baffling mysteries. Zappia (Eliza and her Monsters) crafts an engaging dark fantasy, expertly weaving together a small-town aesthetic and a Midwestern gothic sensibility, a complicated town history replete with grudges and ghost stories, and complex characters in a Buffy The Vampire Slayer--esque story with plenty of appeal. Ages 12--up. Agent: Louise Fury, the Bent Agency. (Oct.)

Kirkus Review

Her family has been a target of slurs"trailer dogs," "rednecks"but she may still save the town.Eighteen-year-old Zora Novak is down two parents and two fingers, living in a trailer on the town outskirts with her sister, Sadie, because their mom's missing and father's in jail. Deceptively quaint Addamsville, Indiana, relies on a thriving ghost-tourism industry, although Zora's the only person who can see the departed. But the ghosts (thankfully gloomy, not gruesome) are restless, and there's a shape-shifting, ghost-eating firestarter on the loose, destroying property and possibly possessing people. Like a profane, brunette Buffy, Zora has a gift but needs a Scooby gang to help her save Addamsville. Reluctantly allying with reformed (maybe) firestarter Bach and insufferably perfect cousin Artemis, Zora attempts to dispatch the firestarter, sabotage a ghost-hunting TV crew, solve mysteries, survive high schooland avoid maiming, death, or serious jail time. Abrasive, defensive, and secretly sentimental, Zora doesn't let social pariahdom stand in the way of fulfilling her paranormal duties. Zappia (Eliza and Her Monsters, 2017, etc.) both invokes and subverts poverty porn, dark tourism, and small-minded small-town life in this arch look at social inequalities that doesn't skimp on supernatural spookiness, slapstick, or teenage snark. Main characters follow a white default, but there is some ethnic diversity in secondary characters.A darkly humorous, rapid-fire read in which the living are sometimes scarier than the dead. (Paranormal. 14-18) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Booklist Review

Addamsville, Indiana, may be Zora Novak's home, but the townspeople sure aren't her biggest fans. Her mother was the town weirdo before she disappeared, and her father was a con man who charmed half of Addamsville's residents out of their savings before he was sent to prison. But Zora, unlike her older sister, knows a little about why their mother vanished. Like her, Zora can see ghosts, and she hunts the monstrous firestarters who stalk their town. This has the downside, however, of giving Zora, who's been found near a few fires, the reputation of an arsonist. When the school janitor one she'd fought with dies in a house fire, everyone points the finger at Zora, and she has to join forces with her obnoxious, rich-girl cousin Artemis, the only person who knows her secret, to clear her name and find the real killer. Zappia (Eliza and Her Monsters, 2017) threads her fantasy mystery through with thoughtful sketches of class dynamics and family tensions. Like Kiersten White's Slayer (2019), this is girl power for a new era.--Maggie Reagan Copyright 2010 Booklist

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Summary

Summary

Reviews (3)

Publisher's Weekly Review

Kirkus Review

Booklist Review

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