Additional information
by Jake Halpern (Author), Peter Kujawinski (Author)
"A stunningly original fantasy world that will blow your mind." --Eoin Colfer, #1 New York Times-bestselling author
"A delightful, redolent adventure--I couldn't put it down! . . . I'll never sniff a spice drawer the same way again." --Catherine Gilbert Murdock, Newbery Honor-winning author of The Book of BoyImpossible Creatures meets The Inquisitor's Tale in this immersive middle grade fantasy adventure that follows a girl who must use her remarkable sense of smell to save the world from a terrifying plague.
Every scent tells a story. The last thing Nia wants is to be branded a "Sinsory." Where she comes from, that's just as deadly as the plagues that sweep through the land. That's why she keeps her unusually keen sense of smell a secret. Only two people in the city of Yerat know of her special abilities: her beloved Auntie and her best friend, Fox. But when the worst plague in a century hits their desert continent, all of that suddenly changes. An invitation arrives in the shape of a jar of blackcurrant jam. Nia is asked to attend the Cloister, a select and secluded school for children with heightened senses. There she meets Scentiers, like her, but also Gazers, Whisper-Gatherers, and many more, whose sensory powers go far beyond what regular folk can smell, see, or hear. It's there that Nia learns her nose knows far more than she ever dreamed . . . maybe enough to find the cure for the plague. Or even sniff out the sinister secrets hiding in the Cloister's walls.
Author Biography
Jake Halpern is a New York Times-bestselling and Pulitzer Prize-winning author whose work can be found in The New Yorker, The New York Times, and The Wall Street Journal. He is host of the acclaimed podcast, Deep Cover, and he teaches writing at Yale University. His favorite smell is his 100-pound dog, Milo (after his bath).
Peter Kujawinski is a New York Times-bestselling author, an award-winning travel and feature journalist, and formerly an American foreign service officer. He lives in Chicago with his family. His favorite smells are all cheeses, the moldier and more pungent the better! Together, Jake and Peter are the New York Times-bestselling authors of Nightfall, its sequel Edgeland, and the Dormia trilogy: Dormia, World's End and Shadow Tree.
Number of Pages: 352
Dimensions: 1.4 x 8.3 x 5.8 IN
Publication Date: January 13, 2026
