Deep Roots

By Amerigo Pinelli and Ailynn Collins

Xenia thinks the forest behind her new home in Ravens Pass is creepy. She ventures in anyway, though, after her new friend Zef insists on exploring. As the girls wander between the ancient trees, the roots underfoot seem to shift and wriggle. Then they start to reach and grab. This forest isn’t just creepy. It’s hungry! Packed with haunting black-and-white illustrations and spooky frights, this thrilling Return to Ravens Pass tale will chill young readers to the bone.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Capstone Young Readers
• Release date: Aug 1, 2022
• ISBN: 9781666346046

Amerigo Pinelli

Long ago, Amerigo Pinelli met a pencil when he was a child living in the heart of the city of Naples, Italy. From that moment on he started to play, joke, fight, and make peace with it. Today, he works in animation and publishing, and he also teaches kids in the comics school of Naples. He thinks making a living doing the thing he enjoys the most is a great gift, and he considers himself very lucky. His three daughters Chiara, Teresa, and Irene fill his life with color and joy. They are really unpredictable! For him and his wife,Giulia, it's impossible to get bored!

Book preview

You tried to get away, but you couldn’t help returning to this odd little town. Every time you wandered, you stumbled onto its streets. It sits along the highway, and off the beaten path. It’s in the depths of a forest, and in the middle of a desert. It’s surrounded by mountains, and balanced on the edge of a deadly cliff. It’s the place where weird things happen, where the unreal becomes real.

Welcome back to RAVENS PASS. It’s been waiting for you.

A full moon shines behind ravens perched on a twisted tree. Mountains are in the background. Fog fills the scene.

CHAPTER 1

A STRANGE NEW LIFE

Xenia left her new home at 221 Juniper Street that morning, glad it was the end of her first week at school. Being the new kid was the worst. Ravens Pass Middle was the fifth school she had attended since first grade, but she still wasn’t any good at making friends. Spending all day alone was awful.

Xenia walked down the first of many tree-lined streets toward school. As she rounded the corner, she saw her again.

As she walks, Xenia looks over at a girl leaning against a tree on the other side of the street. The girl stares back.

It was the strange red-haired girl with the nose ring, who always wore dark green clothes. She was leaning against a tree. She was staring at Xenia.

Xenia frowned. Each morning, she had noticed that girl waiting there. When Xenia passed by, the girl followed at a distance till they reached school. Xenia had also noticed how the girl sat alone at lunch and barely spoke to anyone. But whenever Xenia glanced over, the girl was staring at her.

What does she want? Xenia wondered. There was one way to find out.

She walked up to the girl. She gave a big, friendly smile and said, Hi, I’m Xenia.

After all, Xenia had nothing to lose. She probably wasn’t going to be in Ravens Pass for long. Dad always seemed to get transferred just as she felt comfortable in a new place.

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