Sometimes a Little Cattywampus is Good For You...

And reading Ash Van Otterloo's debut middle grade novel CATTYWAMPUS is absolutely good for you in all ways! This book has pretty much everything you could ask for. Witches, zombies, mountains, southern grannies, and Appalachian insult, Cattywampus is the perfect spooky yet heartwarming story for your chilly October.

Here we have two main characters, Katybird Hearn and Delpha McGill, both young witches who haven't come into their powers and are descendants of a generations old family feud. Their families have worked very hard to make the town forget that they are conjurers at all, but Delpha and Katybird (two very different souls), are not happy to sit by and ignore the magic in them.

However, Katybird isn't sure her magic wants her. Katy is intersex, born with an XY chromosome and internal testes. She constantly has a voice of Doubt whispering in her ear that she's not a real girl, that her mother-to-daughter magic won't be passed down to her. But when she and Delpha accidentally raise all their feuding ancestors from their graves, she doesn't have a choice. She has to make her magic work--to save her family, and to keep herself from exploding.

Delpha's mother refuses to acknowledge their family's magic, but Delpha knows that if she could just figure out their family magic, life would be easier for both of them. They wouldn't struggle with money, things around the house could be fixed. But her situation, with Katybird Hearn's help, quickly spirals out of their control, and now the stakes are that much higher.

This is one of those books that the world needs. It has so much natural diversity, showing characters from every background, of all mind sets. Cattywampus intersects magic and God in one sphere; it enhances the wonder of the Appalachian area, while showing the diversity of its life.

Plus, it's just a fun romp of a story. Ancient witch zombies are trying to kill each other while two young girls are wandering the mountains in an animated outhouse with legs. At the same time, you have these beautiful emotional arcs, and family arcs, going on.

I absolutely loved this story, and I can't wait to see what Ash does next!