THE CHERISHED

For fans of Claire Legrand, Rory Power, and Danielle Vega comes a chilling horror thriller in the vein of Midsommar, as one girl inherits a mysterious house from her estranged grandmother - and a letter with sinister instructions.

Jo never knew her fraternal grandmother. Which makes it even odder that she's left Jo both her house and her land in her will - and a letter with incomprehensible instructions. Jo would throw the letter away, bizarre demands and all, if it weren't for the memories she has of the old house - the last memories of her father before things went Bad. But upon arriving, things are strange. The tenants mentioned in the letter are odd. They stand too still, their eyes are too big; they seem, somehow, stuck. Jo feels something dark and decrepit in the old shack behind the house, waiting for her. And the things that her father used to talk about - the little ones. His belief in them cost him his family, his sanity, and ultimately his life. So why does Jo feel like she can sense them here at the farm? Why is she starting to believe her father's delusions might actually exist? But what Jo fears most is the responsibilities that her grandmother spoke of in her letter. Because if those are real, it means that her grandmother's final words are true: Jo belongs here, in this strange place. And she has no choice but to stay.

Patricia Ward was born and raised in Beirut, Lebanon, moving to the United States when she was eighteen. She is the author of The Bullet Collection (Graywolf Press 2003) and Skinner Luce (Talos Press 2016). Ward is also a book artist specializing in miniature books and dioramas. She lives with her family in Vermont. The Cherished is her first young adult novel, and you can find her at www.patriciasarrafianward.com.