The Whitby Witches
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- $7.99
Publisher Description
A glorious new edition of Robin Jarvis’s classic and the inspiration for The Power of Dark and its sequels. Contains bonus material specially produced for this Egmont Modern Classics title.
When orphans Ben and Jennet arrive in the seaside town of Whitby to stay with Alice Boston, they have no idea what to expect. A lively 92-year-old, Miss Boston is unlike any other foster mother they’ve known.
Ben is gifted with ‘the sight’, which gives him the power to see things invisible to other mortals. He soon encounters the mysterious fisher folk who live under the cliffs and discovers that Alice and her friends are not quite what they seem.
But a darkness is stalking the streets of Whitby, bringing with it fear and death. Could it be a ghost from the Abbey? Or a beast from hell? Unless the truth is uncovered, the town and all its inhabitants is doomed.
Robin Jarvis started writing in 1988 and quickly became a bestselling author with his Deptford Mice and Whitby Witches series. The Whitby Witches is the book that inspired his latest series, which begins with The Power of Dark. You can find out more at www.robinjarvis.com or follow him on Twitter @robinjarvis1963
About the author
Robin Jarvis started writing and illustrating his own books in 1988 and, with his acclaimed ‘Deptford Mice’ and ‘Whitby Witches’ titles, quickly acquired a reputation as a bestselling children’s author. He has been shortlisted for the Carnegie Prize and Smarties Award, and twice won the Lancashire Libraries Children’s Book of the Year Award. Amongst children, his work has a cult following.
Robin Jarvis lives in Greenwich, London.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Jarvis's (the Deptford Mice trilogy) story of witches and creatures from the sea stars orphans Jennet, 12, and eight-year-old Ben, who are brought to live with their Aunt Alice in the seaside town of Whitby. Ben, who has seen visions of ghosts all his life, has a particularly terrifying night during which the house seems filled with them. Jennet learns that Alice and the old ladies of the village are witches who engage in a monthly s ance. Later, Ben meets an aufwader ("wanderer of the shore") in a cemetery, "eyes as big as his fists and as gray as the stormy sea"; he learns how one of these "fisher folk" once married a human and bore a child, which brought about a curse from the Lords of the Deep and Ben holds the key to finding the "moonkelp" that can overturn it. Meanwhile, evil socialite Rowena Cooper also seeks the moonkelp for her own purposes, and is not above committing murder to get it. Petersen's full-page half-tone illustrations bring the aufwaders in particular to life and enhance the story's somewhat dark, nautical feel. The book ends on a tantalizing and somber note, with major foreshadowing for Ben in the subsequent volumes. Ages 8-up.
