Wayward Children

Seanan McGuire

At Mrs. Eleanor West’s Home for Wayward Children, teenagers who once crossed through magical portals struggle to adjust to a reality that no longer feels like home. New arrival Nancy longs for the quiet underworld she left behind, but when a series of brutal incidents shakes the school, she and her fellow students must uncover the truth before more lives are changed forever. With an empathetic, diverse cast, the novella explores identity, belonging, grief, and the pain of returning to a world that cannot understand who you have become. Seanan McGuire blends evocative fantasy, sly humor, and a compelling mystery in this poignant story about misfits searching for a way home.

Seanan McGuire

Twin sisters Jacqueline and Jillian are raised to fulfill sharply different visions of perfection, but at seventeen they discover a door to the Moors—a world of vampires, mad science, and dangerous freedom. There, each sister finds a life that seems to suit her, yet the choices they make begin to pull them apart and force them to confront who they are beyond family expectations. A dark, atmospheric exploration of identity, sisterhood, parental influence, and the costs of becoming oneself, this novella combines fairy-tale wonder with gothic horror and emotional precision.

Seanan McGuire

At Eleanor West’s Home for Wayward Children, a mysterious girl named Rini arrives from a world of candy-colored wonder with an impossible claim: she is the daughter of someone who is no longer alive. To restore the future she was promised, Rini joins Cora, Christopher, and Nadya on a perilous journey through the portal worlds connected to the school. Blending vivid fantasy with emotional depth, the story explores grief, friendship, found family, identity, and the longing to belong. It is a whimsical yet poignant installment in the Wayward Children series, showcasing Seanan McGuire’s talent for inventive worlds and richly imagined outsiders.

Seanan McGuire

Quiet, studious, and increasingly alienated by the expectations placed upon her, Katherine Lundy longs for a life governed by something more meaningful than conformity. When she discovers a doorway to the Goblin Market—a world of logic, riddles, bargains, and absolute rules—she believes she has found a place where she truly belongs. But in this realm, every gift carries a cost, and the choices Lundy makes will test the limits of freedom, identity, and love. Inspired in part by Christina Rossetti’s “Goblin Market,” this poignant Wayward Children novella explores the price of belonging and the difficult bargains that shape a life.

Seanan McGuire

At Eleanor West’s Home for Wayward Children, Jack Wolcott returns from the Moors carrying the consequences of her violent struggle with her twin sister, Jill. As old wounds reopen and danger follows her through the school’s doors, the students must confront the costs of loyalty, grief, and trying to reclaim a life shaped by someone else’s rules. Blending gothic horror, dark fairy-tale imagery, and McGuire’s sharp empathy, this novella explores identity, sisterhood, bodily autonomy, and the perilous paths between worlds.

Seanan McGuire

When Regan, a horse-loving girl struggling to find her place among her peers, steps through a mysterious doorway, she arrives in the Hooflands—a magical realm of centaurs, unicorns, kelpies, and other extraordinary creatures. Welcomed by a herd that offers her belonging and acceptance, Regan must adapt to a world that expects its human visitors to become heroes. As she confronts a dangerous quest and the complicated meaning of courage, she begins to understand that heroism is not one-size-fits-all. A heartfelt standalone entry in the Wayward Children series, this novella explores identity, friendship, found family, self-acceptance, and the freedom to define oneself.

Seanan McGuire

After surviving a journey through a door to a world beneath the sea, Cora Miller is desperate to escape the Drowned Gods who claim her and return to the life—and identity—she has chosen for herself. Seeking a fresh start, she transfers from Eleanor West’s Home for Wayward Children to the Whitethorn Institute, a school governed by rigid rules and determined to erase everything that makes its students different. But Whitethorn is less a refuge than a prison, forcing Cora to confront fear, conformity, and the cost of denying who she is. A darkly imaginative fantasy about belonging, self-acceptance, courage, and finding the strength to choose one’s own home.

Seanan McGuire

After a devastating loss fractures her family, Antsy escapes through a mysterious Door and discovers a world far stranger—and more dangerous—than the one she left behind. At the fantastical shop Anthony & Sons, Trinkets and Treasures, she finds work among talking animals, lost objects, and portals leading to countless worlds, while slowly uncovering what it means to be lost and where she might belong. This haunting, compassionate installment of the Wayward Children series explores childhood innocence, abuse, grief, resilience, and the complicated paths toward healing and found family. With emotional depth and imaginative world-building, it offers a powerful coming-of-age fantasy that stands on its own.