Farrar, Straus and Giroux, April, 2006
ISBN: 0374336903
Available: New and Used
Ivy Spirico, age seven, is fascinated by the Rumbaugh twins, an elderly pair who run the town pharmacy, believe in eugenics, and enjoy taxidermy. She stumbles onto the family secret: the Rumbaughs are cursed with a warped and obsessive love of their mother and have committed bizarre acts to preserve her memory. Ivy, infected with the curse of the Rumbaughs, must come to terms with it. Is she genetically predestined to fulfill the curse, or can she choose to reject it? Reading The Love Curse of the Rumbaughs is like watching a car crash: you know what will happen, see it in slow motion, and watch it all with appalled fascination. Jack Gantos, widely known for his entertaining children’s books, has reinvented himself here and created an extraordinarily creepy, morbid, and disturbing atmosphere in this homage to the gothic novel. Contains: frank discussions of sex, references to rape and incest, grave-robbing, and corpse mutilation. Entry by Francesca the Librarian.