The Lonely Below

A chilling middle grade horror debut featuring a Black, autistic protagonist who uncovers dark secrets plaguing her new school.

Eva doesn’t love being the new girl at school, but she doesn’t hate it either. Thanks to her mom’s job, her family is used to moving around. But Blythe Academy isn’t a normal school. The teachers are all strange and insular, like they’re hiding something from the students … .

And of course, there are the ghosts. Eva’s new friend Ami tells her the story — Blythe Academy has always felt haunted, but fifty years ago part of the school collapsed, killing a classroom of students and their teacher. Things haven’t been the same since.

To most students it’s just a scary story. But it’s not long until Eva is having her own terrifying run-ins with the ghosts, and they seem to be trying to communicate with her. Soon she’s having unnerving visions that seem to predict another collapse. Add in suddenly having to move into the dorms and her classmates finding out she’s autistic before she’s ready to tell them and Eva is completely overwhelmed.

Eva wants to tell people about her suspicion — she doesn’t think the collapse was just a tragic accident. It was caused by a malevolent force, and that force is back and hungry for more. As time begins to run out, will Eva be able to discover the truth of Blythe Academy and save lives … or will it be too late?