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SWEEP

Jonathan Auxier

The Story of a Girl and her Monster

A brand-new novel by one of today's most powerful storytellers, Sweep is a heart-rending adventure about the everlasting gifts of friendship and hope.
Meet Nan Sparrow. She's a 10-year-old orphan who works as a "climbing boy," the term given to children who risked their lives to assist chimney sweeps in 19th-century England. Nan learned the ins and outs of chimney sweeping at her father's side, but he has "disappeared," and though Nan's work is brutal and dangerous, she holds out hope for her father's eventual return. When Nan's most treasured possessions end up in a fireplace, she unwittingly creates a golem made up of all her favorite things. She names him Charlie, and the two become fast friends. Together, they make their home in an abandoned attic. But one of Charlie's "ingredients" is a twelve-month calendar, and the clock is ticking. Will Nan have to say goodbye to her only companion and come to terms with the fact that her father might never be coming home? Jonathan Auxier is the New York Times bestselling author of The Night Gardener, Sophie Quire and the Last Storyguard, and Peter Nimble and His Fantastic Eyes, which the Wall Street Journal called "as delightful a magical story as readers... will hope to find." He lives in Pittsburgh with his family.
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Published 2018-09-25 by Amulet Books

Comments

...a tale that is both uplifting and heartbreaking. ...readers are torn between sympathy, frustration and fear for the future of this oddly beautiful little family... Read more...

Jonathan Auxier's SWEEP has won this year's Governor General's Award for Young People's Literature! The Governor General's Award is Canada's equivalent to the National Book Awards, the highest honour any book published by a Canadian author during any given year can receive. Read more...

uxier wipes away the grime from a bleak chapter in history, where children were forced to work dangerous jobs that claimed many lives. He questions what makes one a monster and applauds helping others, activism, education, earthly marvels, and the possibility of magic. Nan's fiery personality will attract readers like moths, and Auxier's unusual blend of mythology and history will keep them transfixed.

This dazzling, warmhearted novel contemplates selflessness and saving, deep love and what makes a monster.

Netherlands: Billy Bones ; Romania: Storia Books