• Age: 12 to 18
• Grade: 7 to 12

A rich and compelling epic fantasy with a touch of the strange, from the author of Above.

The strange war down south - with its rumours of gods and monsters - is over. And while 16-year-old Hallie and her sister wait to see who will return from the distant battlefield, they struggle to maintain their family farm. When Hallie hires a veteran to help them, the war comes home in ways no one could have imagined, and soon Hallie is taking dangerous risks - and keeping desperate secrets.

But even as she slowly learns more about the war and the men who fought it, ugly truths about Hallie's own family are emerging. And while monsters and armies are converging on the small farm, the greatest threat to Hallie's home may be Hallie herself.

Leah Bobet's short fiction and poetry have appeared in Realms of Fantasy, Strange Horizons, The Year's Best Science Fiction and Fantasy for Teens, and nominated for the Pushcart Prize and the Rhysling Award. She received a 2008 emerging writers' development grant from the Toronto Arts Council. She lives in Toronto, Ontario.

Leah Bobet's profile page

• Commended, Best Books for Kids and Teens, Canadian Children's Book Centre
• Winner, Copper Cylinder Award
• Winner, Prix Aurora Awards
• Winner, Sunburst Award, Young Adult category
• Short-listed, Canadian Library Association Young Adult Book Award
• Short-listed, Cybils (Children's and Young Adults Bloggers' Literary Awards), Young Adult Speculative Fiction
• Commended, OLA Best Bets

Praise for Above:

"Bobet effortlessly blends reality and fantasy, her characters are both gifted and broken-hers is a world that is simultaneously fantastic and painfully real. Heartbreaking, romantic, complex, and magical, this fantasy lingers on the senses." -Publishers Weekly, starred review

"[A] profoundly moving meditation on how we treat the mentally ill, disabled and homeless...Above is a soulful and spellbinding debut novel." -The National Post

"Bobet's narrative voice is beautifully spare and richly creative...Bobet repeatedly emphasizes the importance family-of blood or of choice-plays in surviving calamity. The satisfying yet realistic ending will leave readers hoping for more." - Booklist