The Sisters of Straygarden Place

The Sisters of Straygarden Place is a captivating middle-grade fantasy for readers aged 4-11, exploring themes of sibling bonds, abandonment, and the courage to seek truth. Winnow, Mayhap, and Pavonine have lived for years in an enchanted house, cared for by the house itself, after their parents mysteriously departed with a warning not to venture into the tall silver grass outside. When Winnow defies this rule, twelve-year-old Mayhap's world begins to unravel, revealing secrets about their unique home and their own identities. The book features lyrical prose and an eerie, mysterious atmosphere, touching on complex emotions like loneliness, fear, and the power of curiosity.

A riveting middle-grade fantasy about sibling bonds, enchanted houses, and encroaching wildness, lyrically told in eerily beautiful prose The grass grew taller than the house itself, surrounding it on all sides. It stuffed the keyholes and scraped against the roof. It shook the walls and made paintings shiver. Seven years ago, the Ballastian sisters’ parents left them in the magical Straygarden Place, a house surrounded by tall silver grass and floating trees. They left behind a warning saying never to leave the house or go into the grass. “Wait for us,” the note read. “Sleep darkly.” Ever since then, the house itself has taken care of Winnow, Mayhap, and Pavonine—feeding them, clothing them, even keeping them company—while the girls have waited and grown up and played a guessing game: Think of an animal, think of a place. Think of a person, think of a face. Until one day, when the eldest, fourteen-year-old Winnow, does the unthinkable and goes outside into the grass, and everything twelve-year-old Mayhap thought she knew about her home, her family, and even herself starts to unravel. With luscious, vivid prose, poet and author Hayley Chewins transports readers to a house where beloved little dogs crawl into their owners’ minds to sleep, sick girls turn silver, and anything can be stolen—even laughter and silence.