After Abi's dad marries Max and Louis's mom, the family rents an old, vine-covered house that has more space and both parents take on additional work to afford it. In the midst of these big changes, Max, 14, has fallen out with best friend Danny and developed a crush on Esme, the French art student hired to care for Louis after school. Louis, 7, misses and worries about his mom, whose new job takes her to dangerous places in other parts of the world. And Abi, 12, sometimes resents sharing her dad with the boys. She's also noticed something strange in the house: Whenever she reads a book, the world of the story becomes real. She's found herself sailing on the Kon-tiki, and sitting in a bus teetering on the edge of a cliff. When Louis confides to Abi that he's been keeping a secret pet he calls Iffen, a "cat-thing" that started out small and friendly but has since grown large and wild, Abi realizes that Iffen must come from a book, too, but Louis actively resists reading, so what book? Finding the answer, and returning Iffen to the book from which it came, requires the cooperation of all three kids, cementing their transformation into a family. A novel that wonderfully integrates the magic of books into the real world is classic Hilary McKay: observant, thoughtful, poignant, and laced with brilliant dashes of humor. Biracial Abi is Jamaican/white, Max and Louis white, in this story set in Britain. (Ages 9-12)

An awkwardly blended family moves into a mysterious house with magic that only the children notice. When a mysterious, enormous spotted cat threatens the youngest boy, the older two children pull together to protect him. Based on the drawings of animals from the French Chauvet Cave, the beast is scary yet adored by the little boy. In this luminous novel, highly acclaimed McKay celebrates the power of books, especially of words and pictures coming to life, as well as transcendent family love. McKay's addition of the teenage boy's crush on an older French girl makes this laugh out-loud funny.

2021 USBBY Outstanding International Book.

The award-winning author lives in England.

UK. Originally published in English by Macmillan Children's Books in 2019. Published in the United States by McElderry Books in 2020.

Five starred reviews!
“An instant classic.” —The New York Times Book Review
“Possibly the finest writer of our time.” —Elizabeth Wein, New York Times bestselling author of Code Name Verity

From award-winning author Hilary McKay comes a beautiful, enchanting story about a girl adjusting to her new family and their new house—which just might be magical.

When Abi’s father marries Max and Louis’s mom, their families start over together. Abi suddenly finds herself the middle child, expected to share far too much—especially with grubby little Louis. Then they move into an eerie, ivy-covered house, big enough for all of them.

But for the children, strange things start to happen in that house. Abi reads alone, and finds herself tumbling so deep into books, they almost seem real. Louis summons comfort from outdoors, and a startling guest arrives—is it a cat or something else? Max loses his best friend…and falls in love. Meanwhile, Louis’s secret visitor is becoming much too real. Now Abi, Max, and Louis must uncover the secrets of their new home—for there can be danger in even the most beautiful magic.

From award-winning author Hilary McKay comes a story that is at once enchanting and thrilling—if you don’t get lost in it first.