Fantasy fans intrigued by maps of imaginary lands and readers enchanted by tapestry tales woven from Norwegian, German, French, Russian, British, and Irish folklore will delight in Margi Preus’s vivid quest novel. Tag, short for Tagalong, has not been able to tag along anywhere for years, ever since her big sister was Windswept. In fact, Tag has been kept inside her boarded up house for protection against the snowy squalls that take children under the age of 15. Imprisoned by boredom, too, Tag is intrigued by a message slipped under her front door inviting her to sneak outside and meet others like herself. Escaping with a lucky ribbon and a rope made from clothing, she meets three other children, Boots, Ren, and Ant, and teenage Finn. They forge a plan to travel to the Unknown and find the missing Windswept children. After Finn becomes Windswept, Tag becomes the default leader; armed only with a contraband book of fairytales, she reluctantly shepherds the rag-tag group deeper into the forest. They encounter numerous fantastical and whimsical characters while learning more about the forces governing their world that have prevented rescue of the Windswept children and contributed to environmental degradation and intellectual censorship, with adult greed and longing for power the most destructive. Preus succeeds in creating a recognizable Euro-folklore world with clever nods to contemporary issues. Black-and-white spot illustrations contribute to this magical story with a dramatic ending.  (Ages 10-13)

From New York Times bestselling and Newbery Honor–winning author Margi Preus, a gripping middle-grade fantasy about a girl who must save the children of her world from being Windswept.

In Tag’s world, children are disappearing. “Youngers” who venture Outside are windswept—vanishing in the swirling snow—Tag’s sisters among them. Many have tried to find the lost children; all have failed. And since the Other Times, the Powers That Be seem intent on keeping it that way.

Little remains from those times: snippets of songs, heaps of plastic trash, and a few banned texts—including a book of fairy tales.

An unlikely crew of Youngers join forces—Boots, who can climb anything, Ant, who will eat anything, Ren, who will say anything, and Tag, who doesn’t appear to have any talent whatsoever. With their dubious skills, the fairy tales, a possibly magic ribbon, and an unwillingness to accept “that’s impossible,” they set off to rescue their windswept siblings in this spellbinding fantasy.

Includes a Map and Black-and-White Illustrations by award-winning artist Armando Veve