Hopeless, Maine Series by Tom Brown, Nimue Brown

Trapped on an island off the coast of Maine, the people of Hopeless find life a little darker and more dangerous with every day that passes. The number of orphans rises continually, but who can say what happens to their parents? Plenty of the bodies are never found. This is not the stuff of happy, careless childhoods, it is instead fertile ground for personal demons. In Hopeless, the demons are not always abstract concepts. Some of them have very real teeth, and very real horns... moreTrapped on an island off the coast of Maine, the people of Hopeless find life a little darker and more dangerous with every day that passes. The number of orphans rises continually, but who can say what happens to their parents? Plenty of the bodies are never found. This is not the stuff of happy, careless childhoods, it is instead fertile ground for personal demons. In Hopeless, the demons are not always abstract concepts. Some of them have very real teeth, and very real horns. The island has been isolated for a very long time. Partly because of being small and forgotten, partly because the rocks and currents do not encourage visitors, Hopeless is surrounded by fog and overrun with nightmarish creatures, from small things with tentacles to demons and vampires. It's a peculiar place. Here, almost anything can happen, from the weird and unsettling to the darkly funny. With a cast of freaks, nutters and the odd power crazed psychopath, life in Hopeless is seldom dull. Hopeless is also about who you choose to be. The tale is a protest against apathy, and against the small evils that everyone takes for granted. The worst monsters frequently aren't the ones with the obvious teeth--who are merely dangerous by nature--but the apparently ordinary people who choose to do hideous things. less

Continue with the adventures of young Salamandra, the orphaned, mysterious, witch-in-training on the haunted island of Hopeless, Maine! When Sal discovers she might have a grandfather living on the island, she seeks him out, only to find him full of even more mystery than the rest of her past. Before she can unravel the secrets of her family's past, however, her best friend, Owen, is thrust into a family trauma of his own... moreContinue with the adventures of young Salamandra, the orphaned, mysterious, witch-in-training on the haunted island of Hopeless, Maine! When Sal discovers she might have a grandfather living on the island, she seeks him out, only to find him full of even more mystery than the rest of her past. Before she can unravel the secrets of her family's past, however, her best friend, Owen, is thrust into a family trauma of his own. Salamandra must choose between helping Owen and finding the home and family she has always longed for. less