Shadow Grave

Book excerpt: Tuck Everlasting meets The Village in Shadow Grave, a delightfully eerie middle grade novel by Marina Cohen 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. There’s something off about Livermore. No one has a phone or a car, and the townspeople aren’t exactly friendly. Without phone service to make a call for help, the family stays 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.