A New York Times bestseller
Parents' Choice Gold Award
Iowa Children's Choice Award
Kentucky Bluegrass Award Nominee
West Virginia Children's Book Award
Handpicked for Amazon Prime Book Box
* "The tone of this darkly dry pastiche is consistently witty, and it's chock-full of accessible parodic references to...classic children's texts...Lowry crafts a tidy plot."—The Bulletin, starred review
* "Lois Lowry, who casts her noble and enviable shadow wide across the landscape of children's literature, from fantasy to realism, here turns her quick, sly gaze to parody, a word which in this case means 'a short novel mocking the conventions of old-fashioned children's books stuffed with orphans, nannies and long-lost heirs.'"—Publishers Weekly, starred review, written by Lemony Snicket
* " Sly humor and a certain deadpan zaniness give literary conventions an ironic twist, with hilarious results....Great fun."—Booklist, starred review
* "With this fey venture into kiddie Gothic, the august two-time Newbery winner and author of the beloved Anastasia Krupnik series proves that a writer can always reinvent herself....Readers who are willing to give themselves up entirely to the sly foolishness will relish this sparklingly smart satire, which treats them with collegial familiarity."—Kirkus Reviews, starred review
