Awards

• Winner of Hugo Award (Lodestar Award / Best YA Book) 2025

Overview

Best of the Year: NPR - Common Sense Media - BookPage - Kirkus Shane works with her mother and their ghost dogs, tracking down missing persons even when their families can't afford to pay. Their own family was displaced from their traditional home years ago following a devastating flood - and the loss of Shane's father and her grandparents. They don't think they'll ever get their home back. Then Shane's mother and a local boy go missing, after a strange interaction with a fairy ring. Shane, her brother, her friends, and her lone, surviving grandparent - who isn't to be trusted - set off on the road to find them. But they may not be anywhere in this world - or this place in time. Nevertheless, Shane is going to find them. Darcie Little Badger's Elatsoe launched her career and in the years since has become a beloved favorite. This prequel to Elatsoe, centered on Ellie's grandmother, deepens and expands Darcie's one-of-a-kind world and introduces us to another cast of characters that will wend their way around readers' hearts. P R A I S E STAR - ""A classic fantasy adventure and a balm for any soul weary of oppression."" -Kirkus (starred) STAR - ""A wonderful addition to the Elatsoe universe with vital representation, worthy of any YA collection. Highly recommended."" -School Library Journal (starred) STAR - ""Allows readers to absorb each inventive twist, unexpected encounter, jolt of creepy menace, and dreamy illustration."" -Booklist (starred) STAR - ""With elements of Lipan Apache oral history, fantasy, and mysteries, the captivating novel Sheine Lende follows found and inherited family members as they persevere."" -Foreword (starred) ""Epic."" -Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books ""Gritty, luminous… beguiling."" -Shelf-Awareness ""Darcie Little Badger is so good at what she does, and I can't wait to see what she comes up with next."" -Locus Magazine

Full Product Details

9781646145836

Table of Contents

Reviews

""Full of incredible magic and mystery."" - Geek Girl Authority ""Inventive."" - Horn Book ""This tender, magical prequel to Elastoe features Shane, the grandmother of Elastoe, as a 17-year-old girl in the 1970s who, like Elatsoe, can also summon ghosts. Shane must use all of her gifts to find her missing mother and a missing child her mother was trying to rescue. Along the way, she must also face monsters real and internal."" - Common Sense Media ""You don't need to have read Darcie Little Badger's Elatsoe to enjoy Sheine Lende, although it helps. This is a great novel to give to tweens and teens who like mysteries and fantasy but either aren't ready for or aren't interested in plots with romance or more mature action sequences... Darcie Little Badger is so good at what she does, and I can't wait to see what she comes up with next."" - Locus [STAR] ""A wonderful addition to the Elatsoe universe with vital representation, worthy of any YA collection. Highly recommended."" - School Library Journal (starred) ? ""With elements of Lipan Apache oral history, fantasy, and mysteries, the captivating novel Sheine Lende follows found and inherited family members as they persevere."" - Foreword (starred) ""A magical journey like nothing you've ever read before. Stunning!""--Chris Abouzeid at Belmont Books ""Epic."" - Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books ""Gritty, luminous... beguiling."" - Shelf-Awareness [STAR] ""Revelatory."" - Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books (starred)

""A magical journey like nothing you've ever read before. Stunning!""—Chris Abouzeid at Belmont Books [STAR] “Revelatory.” – Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books (starred) ? “With elements of Lipan Apache oral history, fantasy, and mysteries, the captivating novel Sheine Lende follows found and inherited family members as they persevere.” – Foreword (starred) “Gritty, luminous… beguiling.” – Shelf-Awareness “Epic.” – Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books “Full of incredible magic and mystery.” – Geek Girl Authority [STAR] “A wonderful addition to the Elatsoe universe with vital representation, worthy of any YA collection. Highly recommended.” – School Library Journal (starred) “You don’t need to have read Darcie Little Badger’s Elatsoe to enjoy Sheine Lende, although it helps. This is a great novel to give to tweens and teens who like mysteries and fantasy but either aren’t ready for or aren’t interested in plots with romance or more mature action sequences… Darcie Little Badger is so good at what she does, and I can’t wait to see what she comes up with next."" – Locus “Inventive.” – Horn Book “This tender, magical prequel to Elastoe features Shane, the grandmother of Elastoe, as a 17-year-old girl in the 1970s who, like Elatsoe, can also summon ghosts. Shane must use all of her gifts to find her missing mother and a missing child her mother was trying to rescue. Along the way, she must also face monsters real and internal.” – Common Sense Media

Author Information

Darcie Little Badger is a Lipan Apache writer with a PhD in oceanography. Her critically acclaimed debut novel, Elatsoe, was featured in TIME as one of the best 100 fantasy books of all time. Elatsoe also won the Locus Award for Best First Novel and was a Nebula, Ignyte, and Lodestar finalist. Her second fantasy novel, A Snake Falls to Earth, received the Newbery Honor, was a LA Times Book Prize Finalist, and was longlisted for the National Book Award. Darcie is married to a veterinarian named Taran and splits time between California and Texas.   Rovina Cai is a freelance illustrator based in Melbourne, Australia. She works out of an old convent building that is possibly haunted. Her work has been recognized by the Society of Illustrators and the Children’s Book Council of Australia. Recently she has illustrated books by Patrick Ness and Margo Lanagan. Instagram @rovinacai

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