ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Thank you, as always, to my partner, Rod Edmond, who read every draft of this book with his usual love and care, and who has remained the most wonderful companion on this adventure.

Thanks once again to my family: Mum, Couze, Sam, Hari, Nia, Ivy and Gordian, for all the love, support and happiness you have given me. And many thanks again as well to my extended whānau: Daisy, Ed, Molly, Eliza, Max, Jo, Murray, Joanna, Marion, Lyndy and Teuila. Ruth Troeller—happy one hundredth birthday. I wish I could have been there with you.

Many thanks to all my other friends, students and colleagues, in particular Amy Sackville, Teri Johns, David Flusfeder, Sue Swift, Alex Preston, Jennie Batchelor, Vybarr Cregan-Reid, David Stirrup, Bernhard Klein, Alice Bates, Steve Bates, Pat Lucas, Emma Lee, Charlotte Webb, Jean Balfour, Martha Schulman, Katie Szyszko, Sarah Parfitt, Gonzalo Garcia, Amy Lilwall, Tom Ogier, Roger Baker, Suzi Feay, Stuart Kelly and my wonderful new agent, Cathryn Summerhayes.

I am also extremely grateful for all the lovely people I get to work with on these books. Thanks so much to everyone at Canongate, particularly Francis Bickmore, Jamie Byng, Jenny Fry, Anna Frame, Alice Shortland, Neal Price, Megan Reid, Andrea Joyce, Jessica Neale, Caroline Clarke, Allegra Le Fanu, Becca Nice, Vicki Rutherford, Alan Trotter and Sylvie the dog.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Scarlett Thomas has always loved stories, magic, and mysterious places. She tried (and failed) to write her first novel when she was six. Since then she has successfully written lots of novels, but Worldquake is her first series for children. She lives near the sea in an old house full of books, and is a professor in the English department of the University of Kent.

Visit us at simonandschuster.com/kids

Authors.SimonandSchuster.com/Scarlett-Thomas

Simon & Schuster Book for Young Readers

Simon & Schuster, New York

ALSO BY SCARLETT THOMAS

Worldquake Book One

Dragon’s Green

Worldquake Book Two

The Chosen Ones

Copyright

SIMON & SCHUSTER BOOKS FOR YOUNG READERS

An imprint of Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing Division

1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, New York 10020

This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

Originally published in Great Britain in 2019 by Canongate Books Ltd

SIMON & SCHUSTER BOOKS FOR YOUNG READERS is a trademark of Simon & Schuster, Inc.