Winterwood

August 15, 2019
A girl descended from witches becomes entangled in a lethal mystery. Taking place in a shared universe with Ernshaw's The Wicked Deep (2018), this novel is set in a mountainous lakeside area in the Pacific Northwest. The few year-round residents include the Walker family--witches--and those living at the Jackjaw Camp for Wayward Boys. The night of a terrible winter storm, one boy goes missing and another dies. Two weeks later, in the dangerous Wicker Woods, Nora Walker miraculously finds Oliver Huntsman. Oliver remembers nothing of how he survived the winter conditions. Nora warms him up and returns him to the camp; unsettled and untrusting of his cabin mates, he keeps returning to her. When Nora learns of the other camper's death, she follows a thread of suspicion that the missing and dead boys' fates are related--though she wants to trust Oliver, she can't be sure. She wishes she had a nightshade, like the Walkers before her--a special magical gift like those chronicled in chapter interludes from the family spellbook that contain brief biographies capped by a spell. She knows enough to recognize that the bone moth she keeps seeing is an imminent death omen. The claustrophobic mystery unwinds at an accelerating pace for the undersupervised teens, and the malicious, haunting Wicker Woods are lovingly characterized and as compelling as the formidable heroine. Most characters seem to default to white. A delectably immersive, eerie experience. (Paranormal thriller. 12-adult)

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September 23, 2019
Nora Walker, a high schooler who comes from a long line of witches, is feared by everyone in her community, including those at the Camp for Wayward Boys, located across the lake from the Walkers’ ancestral home. After one of the boys, Oliver, goes missing during a deadly snowstorm that seals off their area, Nora finds him lost in the haunted Wicker Woods with no recollection of how he survived alone in the freezing woods for two long weeks. When another boy dies by drowning, Nora is determined to unravel who is responsible for the disappearances, though her feelings for Oliver cloud her judgment and the truth. Dual narratives from Oliver and Nora are interspersed with pages from the Walker family spell book, and the teens’ solitude and isolation make for a vivid fantasy world and a dark, thrilling atmosphere that drives the biting cold of Winterwood deep into readers’ bones. Full of action, mystery, and an eldritch feel, Ernshaw’s (The Wicked Deep) sophomore novel does not disappoint. Agent: Jessica Regel, Foundry Literary + Media. Ages 14–up.

October 1, 2019

Gr 8 Up-Ernshaw succeeds with a spellbinding tale of love, murder, and the occult for teen readers. Nora Walker, her mother, and every Walker female for generations have been labeled as witches for their mystical interactions with nature and their outcast status in the community. Nora is living alone in her rustic family home across the lake from the Jackjaw Camp for Wayward Boys when she discovers a body in the Wicker Woods. In time it is discovered that one boy is dead and one is missing. As the lies and secrets surrounding these events invade Nora's solitary world, truths are revealed about the crime itself and the deadly powers of humans and the natural world. From the first sentence, the author entices readers into the strange warmth of Nora's cabin and to the edge of the unforgiving woods. The malevolent timbers become more than a convention of setting, but a brooding, spectral character itself. The chapters are interspersed with pages of ancient histories and spells from the protagonist's witch ancestors: "The Spellbook of Moonlight & Forest Medicine," while the narrative is handed back and forth between the two main male and female characters for a varied perspective. Themes of first love, alienation, right vs. wrong, and teen angst give this novel contemporary appeal alongside its otherworldly fairy-tale allure. Some explicit language doesn't detract from the engaging and unpredictable characters and haunting plot lines. VERDICT A dynamic thriller for fans of paranormal fiction.-Jane Miller, Nashville Public Library

Copyright 2019 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

October 15, 2019
Grades 9-12 Nora Walker, like all the Walker women before her, is rumored to be a witch. What people don't know is that while every other Walker woman has had magical gifts, Nora has shown no sign of magic to date. Ostracized by classmates and teased by the boys at the nearby Jackjaw Camp for Wayward Boys, Nora leads a solitary life since the recent death of her beloved grandmother Ida. One night, Nora finds Jackjaw camper Oliver Huntsman freezing in the woods after escaping from camp, and she saves his life by taking him in. They are drawn to each other, but Nora is wary because she believes Oliver may be behind the disappearance and rumored death of another camper. Chapters that alternate between Nora's and Oliver's points of view offer a slow reveal of the secrets both young people are guarding, and embedded sections from a journal document the different magic powers of each Walker witch. Ernshaw weaves an irresistible spell, entwining nature, romance, and magic through a lyrical text that will catch and hold fantasy readers.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)