Marg Gibbs on Greta and Sass: Mayhem Underground and Its Scottish Folklore

Marg Gibbs’s new middle grade novel, Greta and Sass: Mayhem Underground, sends two children beneath a Scottish woodland, where the animals have vanished and a dangerous mystery awaits. Gibbs draws on Celtic stories and her connection to Scotland to shape a fantasy that also considers grief, family, courage and forgiveness.

Greta’s underground adventure

Eleven-year-old Greta McLaren is staying at Fox Cottage with her Aunty Clarinda while her parents travel through Europe on a photographic assignment. In the nearby woodlands, she meets Cameron, a boy from the Grange cemetery. The two explore together, but Greta notices something strange: there are no animals to be found.

When Greta falls through a sinkhole, Cameron follows her into a subterranean world ruled by Mistress Maili of the Echoes. Maili has captured the woodland animals and cursed them with silence. She also keeps Greta and Cameron hostage, leaving Greta to find a way out. Their troubles continue after they make it back to Fox Cottage: Gibbs hints at reunions, a bee attack and the escape of Sass, the pocket-sized owl.

Those details give the novel a mix of peril and playful fantasy. For Gibbs, the adventure’s setting is personal as well as imaginative. She says she loves Scottish and Celtic stories, music, jewellery and ancient myths. Her father was born in Scotland, and she has travelled there herself, walking through woodlands and visiting islands including Mull and Skye.

Nature sits at the centre of the book, alongside family reconciliation, the need to feel understood and loved, and the weight of sorrow. Gibbs hopes readers will imagine journeys through hills, highlands and oak forests, while following characters who have to test their courage and wit. She also hopes the story leaves room for forgiveness.

Friendship, loss and finding a voice

Greta’s relationship with Sass gives her companionship when she is frightened or homesick. Her aunt gives her the owl, who becomes more than a magical sidekick: Gibbs describes Sass as an important part of the story’s emotional life. Greta, meanwhile, is willing to face risks and longs to grow closer to her mother.

Cameron brings his own experience of loss to their partnership. His mother has died, and he lives with his gravedigger father. He is a tree whisperer, loves nature and is intelligent, loyal and strong, Gibbs says. He is also open to learning about Greta. Their friendship develops through shared danger, as well as moments of disagreement and conflict.

Gibbs says she built the characters by considering their Scottish names, interests and hobbies, then bringing them together to face an unfamiliar and frightening situation. Greta must confront what magic means and learn to use her voice; Cameron’s curiosity and steadiness help him meet the challenge alongside her.

Mistress Maili gives the story a more complicated shape than a simple contest between heroes and villain. Gibbs sees a thread of good against evil in the novel, expressed through contrasts such as light and dark, kindness and cruelty, captivity and freedom. Yet Maili has also suffered violence, betrayal and isolation. Gibbs says the character is not a witch, but someone traumatized by her past and, in her words, a victim. That history brings sorrow into the book’s fantasy conflict.

Illustrations and moments of release

Gibbs names two favourite passages: the animals’ escape into the wild and a family celebration at the town hall. The latter is a ceilidh, pronounced “kay-lee,” with dancing, bagpipes and traditional music. For her, both scenes carry joy, release and hope—a change of mood after the children’s confinement underground.

Jenny Catalano’s black and white illustrations appear throughout the novel. Gibbs praises Catalano’s distinctive work and her ability to find images that support the story. Among her favourites are a backward bee clock, a hive, foxes and a drawing of a skull and squirrel in a frame. Catalano works in Procreate and asked Gibbs questions to guide the art.

The cover grew from a combination of Gibbs’s ideas and Catalano’s interpretation of Greta and the animals, with the pair developing a colour palette together. Novia Heroanto added textures to the finished work late in the process, after family illness affected Catalano’s availability. Gibbs says both artists were a pleasure to work with.

A continuing connection to Scotland

Gibbs’s next middle grade manuscript is set on the Isle of Mull, extending her interest in Scotland, its people and its culture. She says she kept two handwritten notebooks while researching and writing Greta and Sass, filling them with information, character ideas, premises, pictures and animal postcards. Teacher notes for the novel, written by Sue Warren, are available.

Gibbs has written more than fifteen children’s books. The Glow in Her Hands is her debut middle grade novel, and her pitch for Skyborn – Finding Misty was shortlisted in the Pitch It! Competition 2024. She lives in Mapleton on the Blackall Ranges in Queensland, enjoys walking, nature, galleries and museums, and reads children’s books widely.

For readers and educators: Greta and Sass: Mayhem Underground is available through online stores and Marg Gibbs’ website. Find Gibbs at mjgibbs.com.au and on Instagram.