Cousins aside, Amelia's loneliness and feeling of unease are striking, thanks to Trevayne's atmospheric prose. The ‘calendar house,’ with spaces representing the 12 months and four seasons, is a fascinating, inventive twist. Horatio, aloof and alternately enchanting and frightening, is a puzzle, much like the house he has built. Readers will agonize with Amelia as she weighs the cost of immortality . . . In Emma Trevayne's spooky, thought-provoking novel, a young girl discovers her new house may be harboring the secret to time travel.
—Shelf Awareness
The House of Months and Years
Agent: Brooks Sherman
Category: Middle-Grade
Simon & Schuster Children’s Books, February 2017.
Finished books available.
A girl must stop the Boogeyman living in her home from stealing her family’s warmest memories in this haunting, atmospheric novel that will delight fans of The Spiderwick Chronicles and Coraline.
When her distant aunt and uncle die, Amelia Howling is forced to move into their home when they leave her parents in charge of their children. Her parents assure her that it will be like having a grand adventure with three new siblings, but Amelia is not convinced. Luckily, the house is large, filled with nooks and crannies perfect for hiding from her cousins.
But even with all the nooks and crannies, the rumbling and crumbling rooms are more sinister than they seem. The house was built years ago by a creature named Horatio, and he’s been waiting for the perfect human inhabitant: Amelia. Horatio has the power to travel through time and memories, and lures Amelia into his world. The memories of children, he told her, were the best, and Amelia agreed—her cousins were full of good memories. Until she noticed that once she and Horatio visited a memory, it was gone forever. And she had been stealing the good memories of her cousins and their parents without even noticing!
Horrified and scared, Amelia lets her cousins in on her secret, and asks them for help. Together, they must race through time to recover their minds and break the perfect clockwork of the evil Calendar House.
“Trevayne creates an eerie and enchanting story in which an unhappy girl’s discontentment nearly blinds her to the dangerous forces that surround her.” —Publishers Weekly
“The mystery house gets a makeover in Trevayne’s fine spun account of a girl finding her feet after being uprooted from her happy life. What could have been a breezy fantasy gains heft from Amelia’s personal struggles. Her dilemmas will resonate with readers, while the house’s Narnia like appeal will capture their imaginations.”
—Booklist
“This engaging, well-written fantasy highlights the importance of memories and relationships . . . A solid middle grade fantasy with an intriguing setting and a relatable protagonist.”
—School Library Journal
Also by Emma Trevayne:
Flights and Chimes and Mysterious Times
Agent: Brooks Sherman
Category: Middle-Grade
Simon & Schuster, May 2015. World English.
Brazil: Companhia das Letras. Israel: Matar.
Finished books available.
Fans of books like Splendors and Glooms and Doll Bones will find FLIGHTS AND CHIMES AND MYSTERIOUS TIMES irresistible!
A boy accidentally travels from his home in Victorian London to a fairy-populated, steam-clogged version of the city, only to be caught in a web of dangerous politics.
“So full of verve and imagination that the sinister steampunk world practically pops off the page. The prose sparkles, the inventions astonish, and the characters are ones you'll root for from the moment you meet them. Loved it, beginning to end.” —Stefan Bachmann, author of The Peculiar (2012 New York Times Notable Children’s Book and Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year)
“The richly drawn world and inventive steam-punk elements help this novel stand out from the pack of middle-grade fantasy.” —School Library Journal
“Trevayne’s well-wrought prose and characters like Dr. Snailwater, who fixes those his city wounds, and Lorcan, whose villainy is tempered with a sad desperation to be loved, will keep readers invested.” —Publishers Weekly
“The novel’s strength lies in world building and vivid descriptions, and Anglophiles will likely enjoy the historical-cultural references.” —Kirkus Reviews
The Accidental Afterlife of Thomas Marsden
Agent: Brooks Sherman
Category: Middle-Grade
Simon & Schuster, July 2015. World English.
Brazil: Companhia das Letras.
Finished books available.
Fans of Neil Gaiman’s The Graveyard Book will love this atmospheric, gothic fantasy.
Grave-robbing is a messy business. A bad business.
And for Thomas Marsden, on what was an unremarkable spring night in London, it becomes a very spooky business. For lying in an unmarked grave and half covered with dirt is a boy the spitting image of Thomas himself.
This is only the first clue that something very strange is happening. Others follow, but it is a fortune teller’s frightened screams that lead Thomas into a strange world of spiritualists, death, and faery folk.
Faery folk with whom Thomas’s life is bizarrely linked. Faery folk who need his help.
Desperate to unearth the truth about himself and where he comes from, Thomas is about to discover that sometimes, just sometimes, the things that make a boy ordinary are what make him extraordinary.
“The spiritualist element and the graveyard settings conjure a macabre atmosphere for this unusual tale of unexpected origins and extraordinary loyalties. Readers will find that this darkly intriguing faery story has an appealingly grounded hero.” —Kirkus Reviews
“Full of mystery and suspense, this fantasy adventure presents a likable main character, an eye into historical London, and an opportunity to recognize that sometimes it is our very ordinariness that makes us special. VERDICT: A first purchase.” —School Library Journal, starred review
“This highly suspenseful story will have readers hooked by the end of the first sentence.” —School Library Connection
Gamescape: Overworld
Agent: Brooks Sherman
Genre: Young Adult
Greenwillow/HarperCollins, September 2016.
Finished books available.
A complex, gorgeous, literary thriller for fans for Ernest Cline, Brandon Sanderson, Orson Scott Card, and M.T. Anderson.
A dying boy on a dying planet plays a dangerous, sophisticated, and addictive game that could save his life—if it doesn’t kill him first. In a futuristic version of Earth, society is mostly controlled by a company that produces an addictive virtual reality game called Chimera. Everyone plays Chimera. Defeating the levels is how you earn enough points for clothes, food, even medical enhancements. Miguel Anderson is good at it. In fact, he’s better than anyone he knows. He spends all of his free time playing, hoping to reach Level 25. At Level 25 you can pick any prize you want—and Miguel needs a new biometric heart. When the game runners announce a global competition to launch a new version with untold prizes, Miguel enters and becomes a team leader. That’s new for him—playing on a team. And complicated, as the game becomes a delicate power play between wholly unexpected players. This is the first of two books and features gorgeous writing, compelling action, and a flawed and memorable hero.
"Atmospheric and emotionally rich, this intense story practically sings with defiance, swaggering like the rock and punk of old. A strong debut from an author to watch.” —Publishers Weekly, starred review
"The story hums with tension. Plot twists and lots of action make for a riveting read…The music seems almost alive, as if it were itself a character.” —School Library Journal, starred review
“Trevayne renders a nearly unrecognizable dystopian future with her imaginative world of technological advancements and cyber addictions…She skillfully orchestrates the action scenes, and ramps up the stakes of this rebellion—including a heartbreaking betrayal—until the very end.” —Shelf Awareness
"GAMESCAPE incorporates unique details of gaming that set your mind reeling with possibilities...Trevayne creates incredible landscapes and game levels with puzzles leading to rewarding boss fights…. GAMESCAPE is the perfect science fiction book for avid readers or new readers who find themselves spending too much time on the old console. There is no lack of originality, and Trevayne will keep you guessing up until the very end." —Teen Reads
Emma Trevayne’s bio:
Emma Trevayne is a full-time writer and photographer.
