WITCH TEST
Buy signed copies directly from Katie on the Purchase Books page. Or get a copy from Bookshop, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Google Play, Apple Books, Smashwords, and many of your favorite book retailers.
Liza is sinking in a bubbling cauldron of middle school rumors.
When the entire eighth grade begins studying the Salem witch trials, it seems everyone is on a witch hunt…with Liza as target number one. Worst of all, her ex-best friend is the one who started a rumor that Liza bewitched a boy with a love potion.
As the bullying intensifies, Liza’s loneliness grows. More than ever, she wishes her mother were still alive. A glimmer of hope arrives when Liza finds her mother’s diary…until she actually reads it. Turns out Liza’s family connection to witches goes back for centuries. So much for the witch stuff being rumors!
If Liza can channel her inner witch at the Halloween night corn maze, she might find the strength to stand up for herself. If not, she risks losing a piece of herself to a growing depression and any hope of happiness.
WITCH TEST is an upper middle grade Mean Girls meets The Craft novel for pre-teens and young teens.
Shimmer Publications, paperback ISBN 9780998925486, ebook ISBN 9780998925486, cover illustration by MiblArt
PIRATE ISLAND
Buy signed copies directly from Katie on the Purchase Books page. It is available from Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, Amazon, Kobo, Google Play, Smashwords, Apple Books, and many other of your favorite book sellers!
A thrice cursed island, a legendary pirate treasure, and one not-so-brave boy. What could possibly go wrong?
For centuries, the whereabouts of Captain William Kidd’s lost pirate treasure has remained a mystery. When Billy’s best friend, Andy, proposes they look for it on nearby Pirate Island, Billy thinks it’s just another one of their crazy adventures. It’s usually Billy who ends up in trouble as a result, but he goes along for the ride…like always. The more he delves into the life and death of Kidd, the more he thinks the treasure is real and that it might be buried on the small island in Long Island Sound. Billy—nope, call him William—becomes obsessed with the captain of the same first name. He even believes he’s possessed by Kidd’s restless soul. Now he and the spirit of a long-dead pirate are leading the crazy adventure on Pirate Island. And what they find is far bigger than the treasure they imagined.
Shimmer Publications, paperback ISBN 9780998925400, ebook ISBN 9780998925417, cover illustration by Susan Tait Porcaro
PIRATE ISLAND was the Milford Public Library’s 2018 One City One Story middle grade read (check out coverage and pictures of this event in this CT Post article).
Educators or anyone interested in learning more about the history of Captain William Kidd can check out the free Pirate Island Curriculum Guide or share the video of Katie reading the first two chapters on her pirate ship.
THE GREAT CONNECTICUT CAPER
(CT Humanities, January 2015)
In this serialized story (the first state-specific story modeled after THE EXQUISITE CORPSE ADVENTURE, a Library of Congress project), the famed Gillette Castle in East Haddam, CT has gone missing! Join Katie, 11 other writers, and 12 illustrators as they solve the mystery of the missing castle.
Starting in January 4, 2015, a new chapter was published on the CT Humanities website every two weeks. Great fun for children (and adults) of any age! Visit the site for curriculum guides, games, downloads, and more. Read for free on the web or listen to the audiobook for free.
For exclusive posts, interviews, and a behind-the-scenes look with the authors and illustrators of The Caper, check out these posts on Katie L. Carroll’s blog.
