Aimee Lim

When Evie Mei discovers that her recently passed mother was the head of a guild of magical weavers, she enters the Chinese netherworld to try and bring her back in this middle-grade debut. AN EDGAR AWARD NOMINEETwelve-year-old Evie Mei Huang never did like helping in her mom’s tailor shop. She hated helping to mend fraying clothes, how the measuring tape got all twisted up, and how pushy her mother’s clients were. Most of all, she hates that her mother is dead and isn’t here to help anymore.But when the universe sends a life preserver, Evie knows to grab it. So yes, it’s weird when a talking monkey shows up and tells her that her plainspoken, hardworking tailor mother was actually the head of a Guild of magical weavers who can change the fate of a person with only a spool of thread. Very weird. But he also comes bearing news that her mother is trapped in Diyu, the Chinese underworld, and that only Evie can get her back. No pressure.The important thing is that Evie’s mom isn’t dead. And if she’s got this one shot to bring her back and save her family, she’s got to take it.Inspired by Chinese mythology, Aimee Lim’s debut middle grade peers into the dark and gritty underworld, while showcasing the unbreakable bond between a family and the lengths we’ll go to save them.

Evie Mei has literally been to hell and back. And while the trip to Diyu, the Chinese underworld, alongside Kevin was a grueling feat filled with endless horrors, nothing compares to the fact that she was unable to bring her mother back. She now has the great responsibility to assume the role her mother once held: head weaver in the magical Guild. Spinning people’s fates sure seemed easier said than done, and now Evie finds herself buried in Guild duties while trying to maintain a strained relationship with her best friend. What could make a 13-year-old’s life even more complicated? Escaped monsters from the underworld that broke through when she returned to Earth. A mysterious yellow fog that seems to be turning their city upside down and hinting at an approaching massive force they aren't prepared to fight. Not to mention the looming man who sent her mum to the underworld in the first place (and her aunt’s fiancé). Can’t a girl catch a break?!Aimee Lim’s fast-paced conclusion to Evie Mei’s story is filled with her signature sardonic voice, explorations of grief and relationships, and thrilling action that will leave readers rooting for the young girl whose courage outshines everyone.