Everlost

In Neal Shusterman's imaginative fantasy, Everlost, two teenagers, Nick and Allie, find themselves in a unique afterlife after a fatal car accident. This 'in-between' world, Everlost, is a shadow of the living world filled with forgotten places and other lost children, called Afterlights. While Nick finds comfort in this new existence, Allie is determined to find a way back home, even if it means venturing into dangerous territory and confronting a terrifying monster known as the McGill. The book explores profound questions about life, death, identity, and what it means to find purpose, all wrapped in a fast-paced adventure suitable for middle school readers. Parents should be aware of the central theme of death and the concept of lost souls, which is handled metaphorically and with a sense of adventure rather than explicit horror.

Nick and Allie don't survive the car accident... ...but their souls don't exactly get where they're supposed to get either. Instead, they're caught halfway between life and death, in a sort of limbo known as Everlost: a shadow of the living world, filled with all the things and places that no longer exist. It's a magical, yet dangerous place where bands of lost children run wild and anyone who stands in the same place too long sinks to the center of the Earth. When they find Mary, the self-proclaimed queen of lost kids, Nick feels like he he's found a home, but Allie isn't satisfied spending eternity between worlds. Against all warnings, Allie begins learning the "Criminal Art" of haunting, and ventures into dangerous territory, where a monster called the McGill threatens all the souls of Everlost. In this imaginative novel, Neal Shusterman explores questions of life, death, and what just might lie in between. (Book Cover)