The Ghosts of Bitterfly Bay

Averling, Mary. The Ghosts of Bitterfly Bay
February 4, 2025 by G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers
E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

Maudie, Scratch, and Kit are eagerly awaiting guests at the Mayflower Cottage, a rental cabin in the woods. Why? They are ghosts, and they like to have a contest to see who can scare the guests the quickest. They have very set rules, but the newest visitors seem to be tough to scare. Gianna, her older sister Juno, their Dad, and dog Polly all seem to take the small pranks the ghosts play in stride. Maudie has some scares of her own; she knows that her past involved a car accident, but her brother Scratch doesn't remember. Both of them, however, have the same creature haunting their dream; Longfingers, who just seems wrong. When Maudie sees a decrepit house on Ponderosa Island that appears and then disappears, she feels she needs to investigate it. It's eerie and she tells Scratch and Kit to stay away, but of course they don't and are soon missing. Maudie knows she needs help, and since Gianna has spent a lot of time reading about ghosts and spells, Maudie manages to reach through the veil from her world into Gianna's. The two travel to the island, and find that there are portals to other worlds, and that some of the doors turn them into soulbirds. They fly to Bridewell College, of which Maudie has vague memories, and meet a ghost boy named River as well as Dr. Pathak, who tells Gianna that Maudie is NOT a ghost, because she's hung around for over a year. What exactly happened to Maudie and Scratch in the accident? She tells Gianna what she knows, and things become complicated. Long finger is still a threat, but his identity turns out to have a surprising twist. Gianna, who is sad that Juno is going off to college and doesn't spend as much time compiling their book of magic, is glad to be able to ask her sister for help. Will Maudie and Scratch be able to figure out what their true place in the world is? 

Strengths: This had a good number of hair raisging elements; the cabin in the woods, Ponderosa Island and the reappearing house, and the children who were maybe ghosts and were maybe demons. Gianna's interest in the supernatural makes her an excellent choice to help Maudie, and her expertise comes in handy. This had a lot of innovative aspects to it, like the soul birds (who doesn't want to be able to fly around), the portals to other worlds, and the ability to travel through the veil to communicate. There are plenty of twists and turns to keep readers engaged, and the cover is downright creepy! 
Weaknesses: The middle of this bogged down a bit with the complicated explanations of Maudie's past.
What I really think: This is a good choice for people who want spine-chilling supernatural books like Young's What Stays Buried, Salerni's The Carrefour Curse, or this author's The Curse of Eelgrass Bog.