A Better Nightmare

After accidentally breaking her sister’s arm, eight-year-old Emily Emerson is sent to Wildsmoor Facility, a treatment center for children who have Grimm-Cross Syndrome, a cognitive disease that makes those diagnosed capable of supernaturally manifesting their thoughts into reality. Now a senior patient at Wildsmoor, Emily feels numb, until fellow grimmer Gabriel steals Emily’s morning medication. Unmedicated for the first time in seven years, her senses begin to reawaken. Following an altercation at a grocery store—Emily’s first violent dispute since the incident with her sister—Gabriel and grimmers Emir and Adayna recruit her to join the Cure, a secret organization through which members help each other hone the paranormal abilities that Wildsmoor seeks to repress. With Emir’s help, Emily uncovers the lies and secrets of Wildsmoor and comes to accept that the Grimm isn’t a curse but a gift. While the story’s depiction of mental health is somewhat two-dimensional, debut author Freeman calls on popular gifted superhuman tropes and taps into the big, sometimes wild emotions of adolescence to craft an epic fantasy romance. Primary characters present as white. Ages 12–up. (Feb.)