Ben Swoboda

Little Muddy Beasts Ben Swoboda

Adventown has a broken history. The riverside city is decaying and no one senses it except Larry Obendorfer. The only black child in town, he is haunted by dark dreams. After ditching third grade to clear his mind, he discovers an old, Cajun woman named Edith. She spins tales about giant catfish and black magic, convincing Larry his classmates are delving into dark arts. The duo concoct an outrageous idea: why not buy their way into heaven by saving the souls of his broken classmates? The story winds like a river through the routines of Larry's classmates and Edith's co-residents at Jude Hill Retirement Center. Larry darts in and out of their broken lives, bringing them together - by hook or by crook. But do marginalized people - the very young and very old - have the strength to push back supernatural forces and the course of broken history if they are naively unaware of their plight? Like an American Gothic version One Hundred Years of Solitude, the multi-generational stories of Little Muddy Beasts will leave you wondering what events - historical or mundane - wove you.