Evangeline of the Bayou

Jan Eldredge's Evangeline of the Bayou is a spooky adventure for 10 year olds about a girl who hunts ghosts and monsters in the Louisiana swamps.

What happens

Evangeline Clement is nearly thirteen. She lives in a tin-roofed shack on the bayou with Gran, a haunt huntress, and she's training to become one herself.

There's a problem, though. Every haunt huntress has an animal familiar by thirteen, and Evangeline's still hasn't turned up. She's hoping for a red fox or a hawk (and quietly dreading an earthworm).

The first chapter throws you straight in. A sparrow brings a note about a banshee, and Evangeline sets off alone with salt, holy water and silver bells. It doesn't go to plan. There's something under the bed, a curtain fire she puts out with homemade root beer, and a raccoon steals her pecan pie.

It's funny as well as creepy. Evangeline is stubborn, mouthy and brave, and she's brilliant company. Her sworn enemy is Gran's four-eared cat, Fader.

Then a huge black dog with yellow eyes starts following her. It's a grim, and a grim means death is coming for someone close. Evangeline is sure it's here for Gran, just as the two of them are sent off to New Orleans on a case.

A word for parents of sensitive readers. This one is properly spooky. The banshees are the ghosts of murderers, a clawed hand grabs Evangeline's ankle from under a bed, and there's a fair bit of blood and bruising. Her mama was killed on the job when Evangeline was tiny (that all happened long before the story starts), and the fear of losing Gran hangs over the opening chapters.

If your reader gets scared at bedtime, this might be one to save for later. If they love a shiver with their giggles, they'll be hooked!

What to read next

For another girl from a magical family who isn't sure her own gift is worth much, try Ravenfall. Anna's family runs a magical inn in a town where witches and selkies come to the parties, and her only power is seeing other people's memories of death.