A Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection!

It's one thing to leave the world behind; it's another thing when you can never return.

Next door to the notorious Area 51 sits Area 53, the underground lab where the government secretly holds "the anomalies." These are the Earth-born mythical and magical creatures—fairies, wyverns, manticores, and more—that have been captured and brought in for careful study. It's also where eleven-year-old Ollie Robles and his best (and only) friend, Garen Jackson, the kids of Area 53's lead researchers, have grown up. They've lived safely within these cement-and-steel halls their whole lives . . . that is, until the day that Ollie and Garen accidentally free six anomalies: two sprites, a wyvern, a baby manticore, a llamacorn, and a golem named Henry. Now it's up to Ollie and Garen to chase down the anomalies and bring them back home.

It's a daring, high-stakes adventure into a world full of magical creatures, dark corners, and surprising revelations as told in the way only Pura Belpré Honor–winning author and master storyteller Angela Cervantes can.