May 1, 2023
Upon escaping captivity, 16-year-old Willow Lafayette must cooperate with an unknown teen to survive a deadly pandemic in this harrowing thriller by Balog (The Night). When Willow wakes up tied to a bed in a barren, ramshackle room, she has no idea where she is or how she got there. Her entire world now consists only of a one-eyed cat who meanders in and out with Granny, an old woman who force-feeds her medication that “makes my mind fuzzy.” Granny won’t tell Willow anything about her situation and leaves her alone for long stretches of time. Things get stranger when Granny’s cat suddenly dies, followed by Granny herself, from what Willow assumes is the bunyavirus—a pandemic sickness commonly called the screw that was rapidly spreading before her captivity. She’s soon released by a gruff boy named Elijah, who informs her that dangerous monsters are roaming around outside. As the two combat untold horrors, Willow confronts devastating revelations about her new reality. Willow is a courageous protagonist whose mettle and drive to survive, paired with Balog’s propulsive prose, renders this an engrossing and fascinating adventure. Characters read as white. Ages 14–up. Agent: Mandy Hubbard, Emerald City Literary.