National Network for Equitable Library Service

They say Dorthea's family is cursed. The house built by Great-Great-Grandfather on the Southside Road has never been at peace. Old people say it lies on a fairy path—a gateway to the world of the Little Strangers. All Newfoundland is enthralled when Marconi arrives with a wireless telegraphy team. Dor takes on a new identity as newspaper errand boy Jack, and joins the famous experimenter on Signal Hill. Becoming Jack is a profound personal awakening. But Jack also discovers that Marconi has a secret mission: receiving the first wireless transatlantic radio signal. And this new technology is wreaking havoc on the Little Strangers. Then Dor's mother disappears. Has she been kidnapped in revenge? Will Jack be forced to sabotage Marconi's experiments to save her? Dancing between the hidden realm of fairylore and the dynamic world of early 20th-century scientific innovation, Urchin is an exuberant story of self-discovery. From the author of Blasted and YA fantasy duo Antilia.