The Spindle of Fate

Twelve-year-old Chinese American Evie Mei Huang traverses the netherworld searching for her mother in Lim’s imaginative debut. Evie always disliked helping her mother operate her tailor shop. But now that her mother is presumed dead following a drowning accident, Evie doesn’t know how to feel about the empty building. While alone in the establishment, Evie startles when a mischievous yaoguai resembling a monkey arrives. He tells Evie that her mother was the head of a magical guild and possessed the power to command the Spindle of Fate and, as her eldest child, Evie must now take up the mantle. He also claims that Evie’s mother is in Diyu, the netherworld, and that if Evie wants her back, she must go there to save her. Accompanied by Chinese and Icelandic American Kevin Chengsson, the son of another guild member, Evie hones her magical and innate strengths and battles her way through Diyu, a multilayered maze of hellish obstacles—“There’s a mountain covered with long swords and pits of excrement and flaming cattle”—populated by denizens intent on capturing her. Fast-paced action and dark humor combine with Chinese mythology to deliver an engrossing fantasy adventure about grief and healing. Ages 8–12. Agent: Suzie Townsend, New Leaf Literary. (June)