Elf Dog and Owl Head

A Newbery Honor Book

“Writing with his characteristic precision, Anderson melds the fantastic with the everyday. . . . A hilarious, heartfelt triumph.” —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

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. Each day the mysterious Elphinore 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. With evocative black-and-white illustrations by Junyi Wu, National Book Award winner M. T. Anderson’s novel is heartfelt and exhilarating, wry and poignant, seamlessly merging the fantastic and the familiar in a tale both timely and timeless.