A few stars still glinted, defiant against the coming dawn. The world stood glass-still, poised at the edge of a new day, like a cat about to leap. The horizon shone with a faint, eerie greenish tinge, and the surge of waves held an otherworldly hum, like countless voices blending together in a wordless chorus . . . or the warble of distant flutes.
Or perhaps it was just his imagination.
Acknowledgments
Thank you to Claire Anderson-Wheeler, my amazing agent, for her hard work, dedication, and invaluable feedback.
Thank you to Kristen Pettit, my talented editor, and the entire team at HarperCollins for believing in this book and helping me guide it toward its final form.
Thank you to my delightful family for giving me both the security and freedom to flourish and for nurturing my creative spirit when I was a kid.
And thank you to my wonderful partner, Joe, for all his love and support. I’m truly lucky.
About the Author
A. J. STEIGER has lived her entire life in the Chicagoland area. She’s a graduate of Columbia College, where she majored in fiction writing. Cathedral of Bones is her first book for middle grade readers, and she is also the author of the young adult book When My Heart Joins the Thousand.
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Copyright
CATHEDRAL OF BONES. Copyright © 2021 by A. J. Steiger. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
www.harpercollinschildrens.com
COVER ART © 2021 BY BRANDON DORMAN
TITLE LETTERING BY CORINA LUPP
COVER DESIGN BY ALISON KLAPTHOR
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Steiger, A. J., author.
Title: Cathedral of bones / A.J. Steiger.
Description: First edition. | New York : HarperCollins, [2021] | Audience: Ages 8-12. | Audience: Grades 4-6. | Summary: Fourteen-year-old Simon, with mediocre magical powers, and Alice, a young girl transformed into a monster, work together to discover a cure to her enchantment and uncover secrets of their pasts.
Identifiers: LCCN 2020011103 | ISBN 9780062934796 (hardcover)
Subjects: CYAC: Magic—Fiction. | Monsters—Fiction. | Shapeshifting—Fiction. | Secrets—Fiction. | Fantasy.
Classification: LCC PZ7.S8178 Cat 2021 | DDC [Fic]—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020011103
Digital Edition FEBRUARY 2021 ISBN: 978-0-06-293481-9
Print ISBN: 978-0-06-293479-6
Interior art by Brandon Dorman
2122232425PC/LSCH10987654321
FIRST EDITION
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