Evocative of Alice in Wonderland, this captivating middle grade fantasy from New York Times bestselling author Lauren Oliver is a bewitching story about the reaches of loyalty and the enduring power of hope. Perfect for fans of the author’s other middle grade novels: Liesl & Po and the Curiosity House series.
Looking across the breakfast table one morning, twelve-year-old Liza feels dread wash over her. Although her younger brother, Patrick, appears the same, Liza knows that he is actually quite different. She is certain that the spindlers―evil, spiderlike beings―came during the night and stole his soul. And Liza is also certain that she is the only one who can rescue him on a daring sibling quest.
Armed with little more than her wits and a huge talking rat for a guide, Liza descends into the dark and ominous underground world to save Patrick's soul. Her quest is far from easy: she must brave tree-snakes, the Court of Stones, and shape-shifting scawgs before facing her greatest challenge in the spindlers' lair, where more than just Patrick's soul is at stake.
- Portal Fantasy Adventure: Liza’s journey begins not in a wardrobe or down a rabbit hole, but through a secret hole in her own basement, leading to a world Below she never knew existed.
- A World of Magical Creatures: Guided by Mirabella, a huge talking rat with a flair for fashion, Liza must navigate a realm of tree-snakes, shape-shifting scawgs, and the wise, dream-bringing nocturni.
- An Unlikely Heroine: Twelve-year-old Liza isn’t a knight or a chosen one. She’s just a sister armed with her wits, a broomstick, and a fierce loyalty that drives her to face the darkest of fears.
- A Dark Fairy Tale: Evocative of classic tales but with a chilling new twist, this story confronts the evil, soul-stealing spindlers and their terrifying queen in a quest that is both wondrous and dangerous.
Lauren Oliver is the cofounder of media and content development company Glasstown Entertainment, where she serves as the President of Production.
She is also the New York Times bestselling author of the YA novels Replica, Vanishing Girls, Panic, and the Delirium trilogy: Delirium, Pandemonium, and Requiem, which have been translated into more than thirty languages. The film rights to both Replica and Lauren's bestselling first novel, Before I Fall, were acquired by Awesomeness Films. Before I Fall was adapted into a major motion picture starring Zoey Deutch. It debuted at the Sundance Film Festival in 2017, garnering a wide release from Open Road Films that year.
Oliver is a 2012 E. B. White Read-Aloud Award nominee for her middle-grade novel Liesl & Po, as well as author of the middle-grade fantasy novel The Spindlers and The Curiosity House series, co-written with H.C. Chester. She has written one novel for adults, Rooms.
Oliver co-founded Glasstown Entertainment with poet and author Lexa Hillyer. Since 2010, the company has developed and sold more than fifty-five novels for adults, young adults, and middle-grade readers. Some of its recent titles include the New York Times bestseller Everless, by Sara Holland; the critically acclaimed Bonfire, authored by the actress Krysten Ritter; and The Hunger by Alma Katsu, which received multiple starred reviews and was praised by Stephen King as “disturbing, hard to put down” and “not recommended…after dark.”
Oliver is a narrative consultant for Illumination Entertainment and is writing features and TV shows for a number of production companies and studios.
Oliver received an academic scholarship to the University of Chicago, where she was elected Phi Beta Kappa. She received a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing from New York University.
www.laurenoliverbooks.com.
Iacopo Bruno is a graphic designer and illustrator. He is also the illustrator of the acclaimed books Mesmerized: How Ben Franklin Solved a Mystery that Baffled All of France and Anything But Ordinary Addie, both by Mara Rockliff. He lives and works in Milan, Italy, with his wife, Francesca. Learn more about Iacopo at theworldofdot.com and iacopobruno.blogspot.it.
