Anne Ursu, author of the National Book Award nominee The Real Boy, returns with a story of the power of fantasy, the limits of love, and the struggles inherent in growing up.
When you’re an identical twin, your story always starts with someone else. For Iris, that means her story starts with Lark.
Iris has always been the grounded, capable, and rational one; Lark has been inventive, dreamy, and brilliant—and from their first moments in the world together, they’ve never left each other’s side. Everyone around them realized early on what the two sisters already knew: they had better outcomes when they were together.
When fifth grade arrives, however, it's decided that Iris and Lark should be split into different classrooms, and something breaks in them both.
Iris is no longer so confident; Lark retreats into herself as she deals with challenges at school. And at the same time, something strange is happening in the city around them, things both great and small going missing without a trace.
As Iris begins to understand that anything can be lost in the blink of an eye, she decides it’s up to her to find a way to keep her sister safe.
Anne Ursu is the author of several books for children, including Breadcrumbs, which was named one of the best books of 2011 by the Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, School Library Journal, Publishers Weekly, Amazon.com, and the Chicago Public Library. Her novel The Real Boy was long-listed for the National Book Award Longlist and was a Bank Street Children's Book Committee Best Book of the Year. She is a recipient of the 2013 McKnight Fellowship Award in Children's Literature. She teaches at Hamline University's MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults program. She lives in Minneapolis with her son and four cats-monster fighters, all.
Kathleen McInerney won the prestigious Audie Award for Best Narration in 2011 and was a finalist for the Audie in 2010 and 2015. Her narrations have also earned several AudioFile Earphones Awards. She has performed in New York and around the United States in both classical and contemporary theater. Her credits also include television commercials, daytime drama, radio plays, and a broad range of animation voice-overs.
Anne Ursu is a kind, generous, and warm children’s book author whose protagonists are often fierce and determined. She’s the recipient of the McKnight Fellowship in Children’s Literature, and a teacher at Hamline University’s MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults. She lives in Minneapolis where she find a balance between writing, raising her […]
In many ways, 2018 was a tough year. But when it came to middle grade books, it was something of a stand out. You don’t have to take our word for it though. Here, twelve amazing kidlit authors you love share their favorite middle grade reads of 2018. I’ll admit I’m biased because I’m a […]
Now that 2018 is nearing a close, it’s time for to ask, “What will I resolve to do next year?” (Or not do?!) So, I reached out to some awesome middle grade authors to ask this question. I love the openness and variation in their replies. I hope these eleven writers inspire you to make […]
