The fifth book in Seanan McGuire's multi-award-winning Wayward Children series brings back old favorites for new adventures
Come Tumbling Down picks up the threads left dangling by Every Heart a Doorway and Down Among the Sticks and Bones — it's both a standalone delight and a treat for longtime fans of the series.
When we Jack left Eleanor West's School for Wayward Children she was carrying the body of her deliciously deranged sister — whom she had recently murdered in a fit of righteous justice — back to their home on the Moors.
But death in their adopted world isn't always as permanent as it is here, and when Jack is herself carried back into the school, it becomes clear that something has happened to her. Something terrible. Something of which only the maddest of scientists could conceive. Something only her friends are equipped to help her overcome.
Eleanor West's "No Quests" rule is about to be broken.
Again.
The series
In the Wayward Children series, Seanan McGuire invites readers into a world where children discover doors to alternate realities—worlds that feel more like home than the one they were born into. But when they return to the mundane world, they find themselves lost, unable to reconnect with a reality that feels increasingly foreign. It’s a story about being somewhere you don’t belong and longing for a place that can never be returned to.
Read full series description
The series opens with Every Heart a Doorway, where readers are introduced to Eleanor West’s School for Wayward Children. Here, the misfits are offered a safe haven to process their experiences, from worlds of beauty and magic to those of science, logic, and madness. But beyond the walls of the school, these kids must contend with the realities of their strange and often dangerous adventures, and the haunting question of whether they'll ever truly fit back into a world that no longer feels like their own.
Each installment delves into a different child’s journey, unraveling unique stories of self-discovery, resilience, and loss. In Down Among the Sticks and Bones, the focus shifts to twins Jack and Jill, who must come to terms with their dark and twisted past. Meanwhile, Beneath the Sugar Sky and In an Absent Dream explore realms where logic clashes with emotion, and reality twists under the weight of imagination. With each tale, McGuire masterfully layers her characters' development against the backdrop of the strange worlds they inhabit—worlds that are as wondrous as they are perilous.
The Wayward Children series isn’t just a portal fantasy. It’s a poignant exploration of belonging, identity, and the bittersweet nature of homecoming. It’s about the worlds we create within ourselves when we’re forced to navigate between spaces that feel impossible to reconcile.
For fans of immersive, character-driven fantasy, this series delivers a rare emotional depth and a haunting atmosphere. It doesn’t offer neat answers, but it poses questions that linger long after the pages are turned—about what it means to be home, and whether we can ever really go back.
#1 · 2016Every Heart a Doorway 
#2 · 2017Down Among the Sticks and Bones 
#3 · 2018Beneath the Sugar Sky 
#4 · 2019In an Absent Dream 
#5 · 2020Come Tumbling Down 
#6 · 2021Across the Green Grass Fields 
#7 · 2022Where the Drowned Girls Go 
#8 · 2023Lost in the Moment and Found 
#9 · 2024Mislaid in Parts Half-Known 
#10 · 2025Adrift in Currents Clean and Clear 
#11 · 2026Through Gates of Garnet and Gold 
#12 · 2027A Song of Sugar Sparrows 
2023Be Sure Be the first reviewer
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