Everything With Words scoops Carcione's 'stunning' fantasy debut

Everything With Words has scooped Welcome to Dead Town, Raven McKay, an "exceptional" middle-grade fantasy debut from Eibhlís Carcione. 

Editor Mikka Haugaard acquired world English, Italian and French rights from Silvia Molteni at PFD.  

The synopsis reads: "When her parents disappear, 12-year-old Raven McKay is put into foster care with Kitty Stromsoe in the town of Grave’s Pass. It’s not an ordinary town. It’s a town where the living and the dead co-exist side by side. All Raven has is a battered beige suitcase with a faded black butterfly sticker and a note from her mum saying not to open the suitcase until the right time." 

"I’m thrilled to be publishing Welcome to Dead Town, Raven McKay," said Haugaard. "It’s a stunning, lyrical tale of loss that’s also a gripping ghost story. Eibhlís writes with a poet’s voice and eye. She has created something magical. The narrative shifts between bold simplicity and fantasy in a way that will captivate readers young and old." 

Carcione commented: "Raven McKay found a gothic world of wonder in Dead Town and now she has found a perfect home at Everything With Words. I’m so excited to be working with Mikka, who publishes wonderful and beautiful books. I’m also very grateful to my agent Silvia Molteni for all her encouragement and support."