When a boy’s untimely passing upsets the delicate balance between life and death, he must embark on a thrilling adventure to restore it. Sold in a heated four-house auction, and set against an immersive yet accessible fantasy world, this standalone middle-grade debut is perfect for fans of Erin Entrada Kelly, Grace Lin, and Kelly Barnhill.
THE PLACE BETWEEN WORDS
by Jesset Karlen
Simon & Schuster, Fall 2027
(via Writers House)
Quill Owens is dead, and that’s just the start of his troubles. Upon his untimely death, he is transported to the realm of the Betwixt, where his arrival inadvertently upsets the delicate balance of the two powerful beings that reside there: Life and Death. Now, with unchecked life wreaking havoc across the realm, Quill is tasked with finding Death’s long-ago stolen power. Without it, Death is too weak to check the overzealous power of Life, and the souls trapped in the Betwixt will never know peace.
As Quill scrambles to find footing in this strange new world and come to terms with his passing, he meets Ellie, a girl who claims to have died in the 1800s. She’s been stuck in the Betwixt ever since, unable to move on, but the circumstances of how she got there are shrouded in mystery. Together, Quill and Ellie set out to find the only one who might be able to help them both: Time, the middle sibling of Life and Death. But journeying in the Betwixt is not without its dangers—even for those who are already dead. Quill and Ellie will have to uncover the dark secrets of the famed Memory Market, make it through the Forgotten Library, and catch the elusive King of Dreams if they are to find the missing power. And all the while, Life has her own plans for Quill. She wants Death’s power for herself, and she’ll promise Quill anything to side with her. Anything—even a return to the land of the living.
Jesset Karlen is a writer from Vancouver Canada with a fondness for children’s literature and speculative fiction. He has participated in the Banff Centre’s writing residency, Diaspora Dialogues mentorship program, and he holds an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of British Columbia. He is also a content reader for PRISM International and Pulp Literature.
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