Something extraordinary is about to happen to Charlotte Mielswetzski.It's not the very cute kitten that appears out of nowhere. It's not the arrival of her cousin Zee, who believes he's the cause of a mysterious sickness that has struck his friends back in England. And it's not the white-faced, yellow-eyed men in tuxedos who follow Charlotte everywhere. What's so extraordinary is not any one of these things. It'sallof them.When Charlotte's friends start to get sick, Charlotte and Zee set out to find a cure. Their quest leads them to a not-so-mythical Underworld, where they face Harpies that love to rhyme, gods with personnel problems, and ghosts with a thirst for blood.Charlotte and Zee learn that in a world overrun by Nightmares, Pain, and Death, the really dangerous character is a guy named Phil. And then they discover that the fate of every person -- livinganddead -- is in their hands.

Anne Ursu is the author of The Shadow Thieves, The Siren Song, and The Immortal Fire, all books in the Cronus Chronicles series. She has also written novels for adults. Anne teaches at Hamline University's Masters of Fine Arts in Writing for Children for Young Adults. She lives in Minneapolis with her son and cats.