Now Entering Addamsville

Written by Francesca Zappia

Narrated by Amanda Dolan

“A darkly humorous, rapid-fire read.” —Kirkus Reviews

Stranger Things meets Buffy the Vampire Slayer in this contemporary novel from Francesca Zappia, the acclaimed author of Eliza and Her Monsters. 

When Zora Novak is framed for a crime she didn’t commit, she must track down the true culprit and clear her name before it’s too late. But in a small town obsessed with ghosts, getting people to believe the truth might prove to be impossible.

When someone burns down the home of the school janitor and he dies in the blaze, everyone in Addamsville, Indiana, points a finger at Zora. Never mind that Zora has been on the straight and narrow since her father was thrown in jail. With everyone looking for evidence against her, her only choice is to uncover the identity of the real killer.

There’s one big problem—Zora has no leads. No one does. Addamsville has a history of tragedy, and thirty years ago a similar string of fires left several townspeople dead. The arsonist was never caught.

Now, Zora must team up with her cousin Artemis—an annoying self-proclaimed Addamsville historian—to clear her name. But with a popular ghost-hunting television show riling up the townspeople, almost no support from her family and friends, and rumors spinning out of control, things aren’t looking good. Zora will have to read between the lines of Addamsville’s ghost stories before she becomes one herself.

Acclaimed author Francesca Zappia has a perfectly pitched teen voice that shines in this inventive novel. Now Entering Addamvsille is perfect for fans of Brittany Cavallaro, Victoria Schwab, Riverdale, Truly Devious, and The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina.

Includes interior spot illustrations from the author.

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Release date: Oct 1, 2019
• ISBN: 9780062964984

Francesca Zappia

Francesca Zappia is the award-winning author of Eliza and Her Monsters, Made You Up, Now Entering Addamsville, Katzenjammer, and Greymist Fair, as well as The Children of Hypnos, a biweekly serial novel posted on Tumblr and Wattpad. She holds a Computer Science/Math degree and an MBA from the University of Indianapolis. When she’s not writing, Francesca Zappia is baking, playing video games, and watching terrible movies. She lives in central Indiana. 

Reviews for Now Entering Addamsville

[Sarah Trehern · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

3.5 stars rounded up.

The Perfect Book for Halloween. A Fun, quick listen for those in the mood for a ghost story.

[Tiffani Smith · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Solid spooky ghostly story that is perfect for pre-Halloween reading!

[Susan Terendy · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This was such a fun book and especially perfect for Halloween! It gave me Buffy/Veronica Mars vibes with a clever, snarky main character, Zora, who I absolutely loved. There were ghosts, demons/fire spirits and the women who hunt them. There was a potential love interest who isn't entirely human and may almost certainly be evil. Like Buffy Zora has a "Scooby Gang" with awesome and hilarious side characters. The humour was very black and made me laugh out loud many times. The portrayal of living in a tourist town was spot on. When Zora punctuates an especially pivotal scene with the epithet “Fucking tourist” I howled! (No offense to tourists. We really do love you most of the time!)

I enjoyed this story immensely and it would be perfect for someone who wants a book involving the supernatural but with no creepiness or scares, but maybe a bit of gore. It's just a really fun story and one that I hope is the start of a series. Although the ending was satisfying and felt complete there seems to be some unfinished business that would allow for a sequel.

The narration was excellent. It's a very good story for audio and I highly recommend it in any format!

[Jennifer Hulet · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

I very rarely leave bad reviews, but this book was actually un-finishable. The main character is likeable in so many ways -- except that she keeps thinking that she needs to save everyone from themselves to her own extreme detriment. I get warning people of bad things that they're headed towards, but laying down on the metaphorical train tracks over and over with the only motivation "because otherwise someone could get an owie!" just left me trying to grind through the book ... before I realized that I was only 1/3 of the way through. And so totally gave up on it l.

So if you like your main characters to have any believable motivation at all and don't like being driven to beg them to just go to therapy and get rid of their savior syndrome already... Pick a different book.

[Rhonda Rhonda · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Really enjoyed this book There are no mountains in Indiana

[quondame · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This is the is the story of a girl from the wrong side of the tracks who, like her mother, sees ghosts and fights supernatural beings called firestarters. Her mother disappeared 6 years previously, and her father was jailed for conning townspeople, so no one much likes her or her older sister. The firestarters never seemed quite real to me, and the plot seemed padded out to delay the lackluster construction of the climactic scene. The characters were the best aspect of the book.

[kevn57-163679 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I'm not a fan of horror books, but I loved Zappia's Eliza and Her Monsters so I wanted to read something else by her and I wound up enjoying this book. If you like ghost stories or horror I imagine you'd like it a lot more then me.

[ftbooklover · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Addamsville, Indiana is a town like no other. It's inhabitants include not only people but also ghosts and firestarters. The firestarters have made Zora's life difficult. Not only has she been accused of starting fires they have set, but her self-appointed job is that of firestarter hunter. Zora is able to see ghosts and uses them at times to help her find the "entrances" where firestarters have come into our world and where they must be sent to get them out. With Zora's father being released from prison in a few days, this isn't the time for her to get involved in a hunt for another firestarter, but Ludwig, the firestarter that took her fingers, is back and she must find him before he destroys the town.
Now Entering Addamsville incorporates so many different story elements in such a clever way that it is continuously moving forward at a fast pace. Zora is an interesting protagonist that deals with a difficult life in ways that make her sympathetic and relatable. A fun, very well-written story with a variety of twists and turns and ambiguous characters that keep the reader guessing right up until the end. I would love to read a sequel to this book.