Hugo Award 2017, Nebula Award 2016.

A novella.

New York Times Bestselling author Seanan McGuire presents a fresh take on the portal fantasy genre that blends Alice in Wonderland, The Magicians, and The Nightmare Before Christmas.

Eleanor West's Home for Wayward Children
No Solicitations
No Visitors
No Quests

Children have always disappeared under the right conditions; slipping through the shadows under a bed or at the back of a wardrobe, tumbling down rabbit holes and into old wells, and emerging somewhere... else.

But magical lands have little need for used-up miracle children.

Nancy tumbled once, but now she's back. The things she's experienced... they change a person. The children under Miss West's care understand all too well. And each of them is seeking a way back to their own fantasy world.

But Nancy's arrival marks a change at the Home. There's a darkness just around each corner, and when tragedy strikes, it's up to Nancy and her new-found schoolmates to get to the heart of things.

No matter the cost.

Published
April 1, 2016
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Wayward Children

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7/10

The first book of the multi-award-winning series, features an imaginative crossroads of different worlds: a boarding school where special children and young people are “safe” until they can return to the place they long for—or learn to adapt if they cannot. The story features intriguing fantasy elements, for which the author deserves credit. The characters, on the other hand, are fairly typical YA characters with their typical struggles. None of them sparked any particular interest. It follows in the footsteps of, say, Narnia and Alice in Wonderland, and I hope that the story and world will develop in a more multidimensional direction in the sequels.

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