Giant turtles, impossible ships, and tidal rivers ridden by a Drowned girl in search of a family in the latest in the bestselling Hugo and Nebula Award-Winning Wayward Children series from Seanan McGuire.
Nadya had three mothers: the one who bore her, the country that poisoned her, and the one who adopted her.
Nadya never considered herself less than whole, not until her adoptive parents fitted her with a prosthetic arm against her will, seeking to replace the one she'd been missing from birth.
It was cumbersome; it was uncomfortable; it was wrong.
It wasn't her.
Frustrated and unable to express why, Nadya began to wander, until the day she fell through a door into Belyrreka, the Land Beneath the Lake--and found herself in a world of water, filled with child-eating amphibians, majestic giant turtles, and impossible ships that sailed as happily beneath the surface as on top. In Belyyreka, she found herself understood for who she was: a Drowned Girl, who had made her way to her real home, accepted by the river and its people.
But even in Belyyreka, there are dangers, and trials, and Nadya would soon find herself fighting to keep hold of everything she had come to treasure.
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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