As the online pandemic school year wraps up, Clay is dreading summer with his increasingly irritated and irritating family members when he encounters Elphinore in the woods near his home. Unbeknown to Clay, the white elf-hound is part of the Royal Hunt of the People Under the Mountain. She wandered off to explore during a brief expedition into our world and was left behind when the other hounds and riders returned home. That the regal dog with the jeweled collar is magical becomes clear: Walking the woods with Elphinore, Clay (white) encounters other worlds. That’s how he meets Amos, an Owl Head boy; the two become friends despite the Owl People’s general distrust of humans. Eventually, Clay’s older sister, DiRossi, a miserable and angsty 14-year-old, and his younger sister, Juniper, join him and Elphinore on their encounters, and DiRossi finds the validation she didn’t know she needed from an ancient giant whose doom-and-gloom outlook comically matches her own. Their parents, meanwhile, preoccupied by financial worries, are vaguely bemused by the strange happenings in and around their house. When Amos reveals that the People of the Hunt want their rogue elf-hound back, the discovery poses a threat, and leaves both Clay and Elphinore with conflicted feelings. This fresh, inventive, funny story with occasional black and white illustrations features distinctive characters (human and otherwise), an original plot, and an arresting weaving of the magical world with our own. (Ages 8-11)

A Newbery Honor Book

"A hilarious, heartfelt triumph."—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

From the singular imagination of National Book Award winner M. T. Anderson comes a magical adventure about a boy and his dog—or a dog and her boy—and a forest of wonders hidden in plain sight.

Clay has had his fill of home life. A global plague has brought the world to a screeching halt, and with little to look forward to but a summer of video-calling friends, vying with annoying sisters for the family computer, and tuning out his parents’ financial worries, he’s only too happy to retreat to the woods. From the moment the elegant little dog with the ornate collar appears like an apparition among the trees, Clay sees something uncanny in her. With this mysterious Elphinore as guide, he’ll glimpse ancient secrets folded all but invisibly into the forest. Each day the dog leads Clay down paths he never knew existed, deeper into the unknown. But they aren’t alone in their surreal adventures. There are traps and terrors in the woods, too, and if Clay isn’t careful, he might stray off the path and lose his way forever. Graced with evocative black-and-white illustrations by Junyi Wu, Elf Dog and Owl Head is heartfelt and exhilarating, wry and poignant, seamlessly merging the fantastic and the familiar in a tale both timely and timeless.