Every Heart a Doorway | |
---|---|
Author | Seanan McGuire |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Series | Wayward Children |
Genre(s) | Fantasy |
Publisher | Tor.com |
Media type | Print (Hardcover) |
Pages | 173 |
Awards |
|
ISBN | 978-0-7653-8550-5 |
Publication date | April 5, 2016 |
Followed by | Down Among the Sticks and Bones |
Every Heart a Doorway is a fantasy novella by American writer Seanan McGuire, the first in the Wayward Children series. It was first published in hardcover and ebook editions by Tor.com in April 2016. [1]
Every Heart a Doorway won the 2016 Nebula Award for Best Novella, as well as the 2017 Alex Award, Hugo Award for Best Novella, and Locus Award for Best Novella.
Rarely, children may find doorways that transport them to other worlds. As a child, Nancy found a doorway that led her to the land of the dead, based on the story of Persephone and Hades. When she is returned to the real world, her parents do not believe her story. Nancy is sent to a boarding school for children who have had similar experiences.
The students include Kade, who spent time in a fantasy world with goblins and fairies; Jacqueline "Jack" and Jillian "Jill," who spent time in a world of vampires and mad scientists; and Sumi, who spent time in a nonsense world full of candy and rainbows. The students were all altered by their time in different worlds where they were able to be their true selves, and most long to return to them.
As Nancy is getting settled at the school, Sumi is found dead, as are others at the school. Nancy and her friends learn that Jill is killing students in order to make a key which will reopen her own doorway. Jack kills Jill, then returns to her gothic world. Nancy finds her doorway again and returns to the land of the dead.
Every Heart a Doorway was well-received by critics, including starred reviews from Booklist [2] and Kirkus Reviews . [3]
Booklist's Erin Downey Howerton wrote, "This amazing fantasy pierces the shimmering veil of childhood imagination by reminding adult readers that their own doorways still exist deep in the chambers of their all-too-human hearts." [2]
Kirkus Reviews highlighted that "McGuire understands and has true compassion (never pity) for outcasts and outliers while also making it clear that being a misfit doesn’t mean you’ll necessarily get along with all the other misfits, who don’t fit for different reasons." [3]
Publishers Weekly similarly wrote, "This gothic charmer is a love letter to anyone who’s ever felt out of place". They noted that the "characters are strange and charming" and highlighted how "McGuire [...] puts her own inimitable spin on portal fantasy, adding horror elements to the mix". [4]
Likewise, School Library Journal's Gretchen Crowley noted that "the characters are well drawn, and their feelings about their impossible situation are believable. The alienation they experience and their struggles to find a way back will appeal to teens." [5]
In 2023, the book was banned, in Clay County District Schools, Florida. [6]
Locus included Every Heart a Doorway on their list of the top 13 recommended novellas of 2016, [7] and the American Library Association selected it for their 2017 Rainbow Book List. [8]
Year | Award | Result | Ref |
---|---|---|---|
2016 | Nebula Award for Best Novella | Won | [9] [10] [11] |
Tiptree Award | Honor | [12] | |
2017 | Alex Awards | Won | [13] [14] [15] |
British Fantasy Award for Best Novella | Nominated | [16] | |
Hugo Award for Best Novella | Won | [17] [18] [19] [20] | |
Locus Award for Best Novella | Won | [21] | |
World Fantasy Award—Novella | Nominated | [22] | |
2018 | Geffen Award for Best Translated Fantasy Book | Nominated | [23] |
In 2019, Syfy and Legendary Entertainment optioned to adapt the Wayward Children series into a television show adapted by Joe Tracz. [24]
In July 2021, Paramount Pictures acquired the film rights to the Wayward Children series. Pouya Shahbazian will produce the film. [25]
Robert Silverberg is a prolific American science fiction author and editor. He is a multiple winner of both Hugo and Nebula Awards, a member of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame, and a Grand Master of SF since 2004.
Martha Wells is an American writer of speculative fiction. She has published a number of fantasy novels, young adult novels, media tie-ins, short stories, and nonfiction essays on fantasy and science fiction subjects. Her novels have been translated into twelve languages. Wells has won four Hugo Awards, two Nebula Awards and three Locus Awards for her science fiction series The Murderbot Diaries. She is also known for her fantasy series Ile-Rien and The Books of the Raksura. Wells is praised for the complex, realistically detailed societies she creates; this is often credited to her academic background in anthropology.
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Aliette de Bodard is a French-American speculative fiction writer.
Lynne M. Thomas is an American librarian, podcaster and editor. She has won eleven Hugo Awards for editing and podcasting in the science fiction genre. She is perhaps best known as the co-publisher and co-editor-in-chief of the Hugo Award-winning Uncanny Magazine with her husband, Michael Damian Thomas. With her eleven Hugo Award wins, Thomas is tied with Connie Willis for most wins among women, and sixth all time for most wins amongst all Hugo Award winners.
This is a list of the published works of Aliette de Bodard.
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October Daye is a New York Times Best Selling series of urban fantasy novels by American author Seanan McGuire. They follow October "Toby" Daye, a half-fae changeling and reluctant hero of the realm.
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Wayward Children is a series of fantasy novellas by American author Seanan McGuire. It takes place at a boarding school for children who have journeyed to magical lands and been forcibly returned to the real world. The volumes alternate between being set at the school versus showing the lives of the children while they were in their alternate worlds.
Down Among the Sticks and Bones is a 2017 fantasy novella by Seanan McGuire. It is the second book in the Wayward Children series and explores the history of two characters, Jack and Jill, from the previous book, Every Heart a Doorway.
Beneath the Sugar Sky is a 2018 fantasy novella by American author Seanan McGuire. It is the third book in the Wayward Children series and introduces Rini Onishi, the child of Sumi, who was murdered in the series's first book, Every Heart a Doorway.
In an Absent Dream is a 2019 fantasy novella by American author Seanan McGuire. It is the fourth book in the Wayward Children series and follows Lundy, the in-house therapist at Eleanor West's School for Wayward Children.
Come Tumbling Down is a 2020 fantasy novella by American author Seanan McGuire. It is the fifth book in the Wayward Children series and focuses on the Wolcott twins, who were centered in the first book in the series and the second. This time, the children from the School for Wayward Children must venture into the Moors to save Jack Wolcott and the Moors themselves.
Where the Drowned Girls Go is a 2022 fantasy novella by American author Seanan McGuire. It is the seventh book published in the Wayward Children series and follows the character Cora.
Across the Green Grass Fields is a 2021 fantasy novella by American author Seanan McGuire. It is the fifth book published in the Wayward Children book series and follows Regan as she learns about her true nature then travels to a world of centaurs and unicorns, where she finds family.