Sold in a heated US auction, the first book in this debut middle-grade series is as hilarious, fast-paced and mysterious as it is full of heart. Featuring wonderful black and white illustrations by Lúthien Leerghast, this title is perfect for fans of A Series of Unfortunate Events.

MOSTLY AWFUL GROWNUPS
by River Clegg
illustrated by Lúthien Leerghast
Stonefruit Studio/Sourcebooks, March 2027
(via Writers House)

Twin siblings Cole and Willow are smart, resourceful, brave, and kind. But they are not safe. From the moment they return home to find their parents mysteriously missing, they are whisked into a whirlwind of narrow escapes and daring rescues, forced to flee from a cadre of menacing (and mostly awful) grownups intent on pursuing them.

As sensitive, artistic Cole and bold, clever Willow fight to figure out who they can trust and struggle to uncover secrets their parents have buried for years, they are drawn ever deeper into the orbit of a shadowy organization called the Keepers. The twins must face down uncountable obstacles in their journey—a woefully incompetent newspaper, adults who cannot identify alpacas, a vastly unhelpful desk clerk, a malicious (and bored) piranha named Reginald, and, worst of all, the looming realization that they may never have known their parents at all.

Amidst the clever plot twists and whimsical locales, it’s the tender, realistic relationship between the twins that occupies the heart of this novel. Cole and Willow love each other as only siblings can—fiercely, argumentatively, and unconditionally—and their bond breathes life into their wild and wonderful series of escapades. But perhaps even more vital is the novel’s moving and honest portrayal of the unavoidable pitfalls of growing up. As Clegg’s narrator informs his readers, “Stories are to help us make sense of our lives.” And (MOSTLY) AWFUL GROWNUPS provides empathy and clarity to young readers struggling to comprehend, perhaps for the first time, that grownups aren’t infallible, and parents can’t always be there. It’s a novel that stages an inevitable, powerful wrestling with maturation within the realm of the fantastic, rendering it at once an unmistakably timely and fresh story with the trappings of a classic.

River Clegg is a Brooklyn-based copywriter, creative director, and TV writer. His work has frequently appeared on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert and in The New Yorker’s “Shouts & Murmurs” section.