the wikkeling
 In the enormous city of the Addition, all children are SAFE, SECURE, and SUPERVISED, and are watched by cameras even while they sleep. Henrietta is unlikable at her competitive school until she meets Gary and Rose. They all share something in common: headaches with an unknown cause. Then, late one night, Henrietta makes a startling discovery when she finds a wounded cat in the attic above her bedroom. A series of strange occurrences follow, including the appearance of a threatening creature with long, waxy fingers, who calls itself the Wikkeling. With the help of an ancient bestiary, will Henrietta and her friends solve these mysteries before the Wikkeling catches them? Praise for The Wikkeling The Wikkeling was nominated as a 2011 Booklist Editors' Choice: Best Books For Youth selection. “Arntson's novel defies classification—it is a bestiary and a dystopia, a horror novel and a time-slip tale. At its heart, however, it is the story of three unlikely but compelling friends—Henrietta, Gary, and Rose—who circumvent the strictures of their society with the help of old books, a few eccentric adults, and a good dose of gumption.” —Horn Book Guide Reviews. “A truly original piece of work. Swinging from funny to creepy to intriguing, it kept me enthralled throughout. I loved it.” —James Dashner, New York Times bestselling author of The Maze Runner trilogy "What Arntson is really doing is looking forward to
look back, using a near-future technoland to counterpoint the joys of
old books over cell phones, trees over highways, and creatures just at
the periphery of understanding over mollycoddled safety. It’s all kind
of creepy (especially with Terrazzini’s silhouette artwork), deadpan
funny, and totally engrossing, even though the book doesn’t come close
to fully explaining everything. But that is ultimately a smart move;
asking for a bit of interpretation makes this challenging and at times
even confounding read that much more memorable. Although too many books
are burdened with unnecessary sequels, this one screams for one, or even
many." —Booklist (starred review) "Provocative and offbeat." —Kirkus “The Wikkeling is fresh and edgy. Even when I wasn’t reading the book, I couldn’t stop thinking about it. It is a great story that makes the reader ponder, ‘What if?’ and, ‘Could our future look similar to the one in this book?’ The Wikkeling is a middle-grade novel with the maturity to appeal to adult science fiction readers as well. It is a good read.” — Sylvia Branzei, author of the international bestselling Grossology series and author of the Ickstory series “Skillfully written, clever, frightening, and hopeful, it is a tale that feels like a reassuring secret handshake to anyone who believes in the power of books.” —Jacqueline West, New York Times bestselling author of The Shadows (Book 1 of The Books of Elsewhere) Available in hardcover and ebook formats
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