The Love Curse of the Rumbaughs [Paperback]

On an unseasonably warm Easter Sunday, a young girl named Ivy discovers a chilling secret in the basement of the Rumbaugh pharmacy across the street from the hotel where she lives with her mother. The discovery reveals a disturbing side to the eccentric lives of family friends Abner and Adolph Rumbaugh, known throughout their small western Pennsylvania town simply as the Twins. It seems that Ab and Dolph have been compelled by a powerful mutual love for their deceased mother to do something outrageous, something that in its own twisted way bridges the gap between the living and the dead. Immediately, Ivy's discovery provokes the revelation of a Rumbaugh family curse, a curse that, as Ivy will learn over the coming years, holds a strange power over herself and her own mother.

Love is a terrible and wonderful thing.

Jack Gantoshas written books for people of all ages, from picture books and middle-grade fiction to novels for young adults and adults. His works includeHole in My Life, a memoir that won the Michael L. Printz and Robert F. Sibert Honors; the Joey Pigza series, which include a Newbery Honor book and a National Book Award Finalist;Dead End in Norvelt, winner of the Newbery Medal and the Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction; and the Rotten Ralph series.

A totally engaging, intelligently written work . . . this one will linger in one's darkest corners. Kirkus Reviews, Starred Review

This offbeat novel, reflecting elements ofPsychoand Faulkner'sA Rose for Emily, draws readers into a macabre world where taboos are lifted and unconventional desires unleashed. Publishers Weekly

A shocking, darkly comic tale. Booklist, Boxed Review

Eerie. This thought-provoking story about free will and the arguments of nature and nurture will definitely stick with readers. School Library Journal

Few other books offer such a combination of stylization verging on tl“¿