cover image Skary Childrin and the Carousel of Sorrow

Skary Childrin and the Carousel of Sorrow

Katy Towell. Knopf, $16.99 (272p) ISBN 978-0-375-86859-7

Twelve years ago, the town of Widowsbury endured a 12-day storm that unleashed evil. Since then, the nightmarish town has insisted on conformity and shunned strangers, which makes life miserable for three students at Madame Gertrude's School for Girls: 11-year-old Adelaide resembles a werewolf, wild-haired 12-year-old Maggie is exceptionally strong, and seven-year-old Beatrice befriends the ghosts of rodents. They are ceaselessly taunted and punished, finally finding some refuge in the arrival of a new teacher, Miss Delia. But when Miss Delia and several schoolboys are lured into the woods by a mysterious carousel and disappear, the misfits are devastated by her absence and reluctantly band together to save the "dreadfully cursed" town. Towell's atmospheric first novel is filled with humor and evocative descriptions ("Here the trees reached their naked limbs up and scratched at the dark sky, distortions in the bark making faces paralyzed in anguish"). Readers who share in the girls' outsider status will likely value the story's emotional gravity and emphasis on compassion. Ages 8%E2%80%9312. (Aug.)