FORGOTTEN BOOK: BLACK CREEK CROSSING

 Black Creek Crossing by John Saul  (2004)

Fifteen-year-old Angel Sullivan is an outcast in her school.  She is not beautiful (although one day she might be), she is fat (actually, only twenty pounds overweight, if that), she's awkward and has n social skills (hey, she's thirteen), she hates her name (kids call her Mangy Angey), and she is bullied by everyone she knows.  Her father is an unreliable alcoholic with a rage disorder.  Her mother is a meek, over-religious woman who sees visions of the Virgin Mary.  It really sucks to her.

Now she has a chance to turn things around.  Her maternal aunt, Joni Fletcher, is a successful real estate agent in the small town of Roundtree, Massachusetts, and she has the listing for a house there that is very affordable for the Sullivan's.  Of course the house is very old -- in fact, it's the oldest house in the ancient New England town -- and in need of repair, but the price is good.  Don't let the fact that 250 years ago, a man accused his wife and daughter of being witches and had them burned at the tree outside their yard -- the Roundtree that gave the town it's name.  Or that only 2 years before a man savagely killed his wife and daughter there.  Or that similar tragedies had been rumored over the years.  Or that it seemed impossible for anyone to live in the house for more than a short time.  Or that strange shapes have been seen in an upstairs windows  when the house ids unoccupied.  And the round tree outside the house?  Why is it continually struck by lightning but show no damage?

Nonetheless the Sullivans move in and Angel hopes that her life will turn around.  But Angel was not counting on her slightly older cousin Zack, who hates her and uses his influence to turn all the other kids against her.  The only person more unpopular than Angel in Roundtree is Seth Baker, a boy Angel's age and a natural target for schoolyard bullies. Seth has no interest in athletics and, because of this, he is beaten regularly with a belt by his sadistic father.  Seth and Angel form a bond.

The house at Black Creek Crossing begins to have an effect on Angel's father, and he begins to have sexual thoughts about his daughter, sneaking into her bedroom at night and touching her while she sleeps.  Yucky!  He also begins to get more violent

There is black cat, presumably ownerless, who follows Angie around everywhere.  Because he can appear and disappear in an impossible manner, her calls the cat Houdini.  Houdini is a ghost cat and will attack anyone who threatens Angel or Seth, raking their flesh with its claws.  But afterwards, there is no sign of an attack, no blood, no scars.  Although Angel does not know this until near the end of the book, Houdini is also occupied by the spirit of Forbearance Wynton, the young girl who was burned as a witch 250 years before.  Houdini leads Angel and Seth to a long abandoned cabin deep in the woods.  There they discover an ancient grimoire, filled with spells and potions.  The kids start using the grimoire and begin to get revenge on their enemies.  Soon blood begins to spill...

This is a book that has no good characters, from the supposedly well-meaning bigoted priest who hates all Protestants to the clique of high school mean girls.  Everyone has a at least a dash of evil kn them, some barely have a dash of good.  John Saul (b. 1942) made his bones with best-selling novels about children in danger, often with no hope of rescue.  His writing can draw the reader in, but, because of his use of children as ploys, one can only read his books in small doses.  But the formula works:  between 1977 and 2009 Saul has published 31 best-selling novels, and was given a Bram Stoker Award for Lifetime Achievement in 2023.   Strangely, no films were made of his works, except for a 1982 TV movie, Cry for the Strangers, featuring Patrick Duffy and Cindy Pickett.