The Spindle of Fate

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Description

Twelve-year-old Evie Mei Huang never did like helping in her mom's tailor shop. She hated dyeing and spooling the thread and how the measuring tape gets all twisted up. Most of all, now that her mother has died, she hates that she isn't here anymore. When the universe sends a life preserver, Evie knows to grab it. So it's weird when a talking monkey shows up and tells her that her plain, hardworking tailor mother was actually the head of a guild of magical weavers who control the fate of humanity. He also comes bearing the information that her mother is trapped in Diyu, the Chinese underworld, and that only Evie can get her back. No pressure. But the important thing is that Evie's mom isn't dead. And if she's got this one shot to bring her back and save her family, she's got to take it.

Reviews

A New York Public Library Best Book of the Year

"The Spindle of Fate took me on a delightful and creepy journey through the courts of hell with many laugh-out-loud moments. Evie is a spunky and relatable heroine who middle-grade readers are sure to love. I didn't want this book to end!"--Judy I. Lin, #1 New York Times bestseller of A Magic Steeped in Poison

"With a perfect mix of irreverence and resourcefulness, twelve-year-old Evie Mei braves the delightfully gruesome Chinese underworld as she searches for her mother. Aimee Lim's inventive debut novel threads Chinese folklore through this tale that is both a bittersweet coming-of-age story and a harrowing quest that had me hooked from the opening line."--Miya T. Beck, Author of The Pearl Hunter and Through a Clouded Mirror

"The Spindle of Fate is a stunningly woven story about family and finding strength in unlikely places. Aimee Lim's prose is sharp, witty, propulsive, and utterly original. A must-read for fans of fantasy and adventure, The Spindle of Fate is a triumph. The stakes couldn't be higher in this magical quest, and readers will delight in the characters met along the way. Seamlessly balancing laugh-out-loud lines with heart-wrenching moments, this is one of the best books I've read in years. I couldn't flip the pages fast enough."--Alex Aster, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Lightlark

"Lim's debut is a fast-paced, nail-biting page-turner featuring a likable narrator leaving her mundane life to take on a fantastical quest. The mix of gore, humor, and sentiment feels as if Pixar made a horror film, and the story is carried by a charismatic duo and their deepening friendship."--The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, starred review

"This debut, which explores grief, a complicated mother-daughter relationship, and family dynamics, also has a lot of heart. An enthralling adventure."--Kirkus

"Fast-paced action and dark humor combine with Chinese mythology to deliver an engrossing fantasy adventure about grief and healing."--Publishers Weekly

"A relatable Evie Mei candidly navigates questions about bereavement: how to be brave for her family, how to find meaning in senseless tragedy, and how to reconcile her love for her mother with their strained relationship. Lim's debut middle-grade fantasy will appeal to readers who appreciate a grim (and sometimes darkly comical) bureaucratic underworld and ask questions about how we learn to accept unavoidable grief."--Booklist

Author Bio

Aimee Lim is a library associate and former Jeopardy! champion from Arcadia, California. She has a BA in English with an emphasis on creative writing from the University of California, Davis. The Spindle of Fate is her first novel, though she is a two-time finalist in a "write the worst opening line(s) to a novel" contest.