The recently reunited realms are again at risk—something is left undone…

Gee, an adopted child, has been kept ignorant of his troubled past. Now 16 years old, he is a loner both despised and feared by his classmates. Dark, strange, and unbidden feelings slowly begin to grow inside him. Even as he struggles to resist the call of a horrendous legacy, an enchantingly monstrous woman comes to fetch him and Gee is compelled to journey to Half World, a purgatory-like realm.

Abandoning his grandmother and the place he’s called home, Gee must face where he came from, and what he used to be, in order to determine his fate and the fate of three realms. Aided by a resentful cat and a newfound friend, Gee must fight the monstrous and the horrific in Half World, but, most difficult of all, he must overcome his own propensity for evil. If he loses this struggle, the three realms will be doomed once more.

Praise for Hiromi Goto’s Half World:

“Half World is a haunting combination of a coming-of-age novel and a spiritual quest, a mad funhouse of horrors and a tale of redemption and love. Wonderfully odd, and quite unforgettable.” —Neil Gaiman

“In Half World, readers are taken on a thrilling, poignant adventure where Eastern and Western mythologies are woven together. Commonwealth award-winning author Hiromi Goto has created a dark, otherworldly page-turner that will most certainly appeal to young adult readers regardless of whether they are speculative fiction enthusiasts. Goto’s elegant prose is graced by about a dozen black and white illustrations by the award-winning Jillian Tamaki. Her brush and ink illustrations superbly capture Melanie’s journey and the turmoil of the Half World. Goto has created an absolutely riveting tale that moves with cinematic pacing and vividness. Half World is nothing short of a masterpiece.” —Canadian Children’s Book News

“Half World is Boschean delight à la Goto: a magical, madcap, and deliciously creepy tale of tribulations, terror and triumph; a girl-power adventure in screaming jelly-toned colours.” —Nalo Hopkinson, author of The New Moon’s Arms

“Myths and monsters, love and terror—Hiromi Goto is a master storyteller!” —Ellen Klages, author of The Green Glass Sea

“Half World is an absolute treasure of a book, one of those hidden gems that deserves as wide an audience as possible.” —Charles de Lint, author of The Blue Girl

Genre/Category: YA fiction
Period: Contemporary
Length: 80,000 words
Publication date: Spring 2012



Canadian English rights, Penguin Canada
     
For all other rights contact The Cooke Agency.

Photo credit: Kiely Ramos

Japanese-born Hiromi Goto immigrated to Canada in 1969. She is the author of the award-winning Chorus of Mushrooms; a children's novel, The Water of Possibility; and, most recently, the short story collection Hopeful Monsters.