The Strangers

The Greystone Secrets series, Book #1

• A Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection
• Winter 2018-2019 Kids' Indie Next List Pick
• Indie Bestseller
• Time for Kids Book Club: Top 10 Summer Reads
• Amazon Top 20 Best Children's Books of 2019 so far (June 2019)
• Publishers Weekly Best Books 2019
• Texas Bluebonnet Award List 2020-2021
• 2020 LITA Excellence in Children’s and Young Adult Science Fiction Notable Book: The Eleanor Cameron Notable Middle Grade Books List

What makes you you?

The Greystone kids thought they knew. Chess has always been the protector over his younger siblings, Emma loves math, and Finn does what Finn does best—acting silly and being adored. They’ve been a happy family, just the three of them and their mom.

But everything changes when reports of three kidnapped children reach the Greystone kids, and they’re shocked by the startling similarities between themselves and these complete strangers. The other kids share their same first and middle names. They’re the same ages. They even have identical birthdays. Who, exactly, are these strangers?

Before Chess, Emma, and Finn can question their mom about it, she takes off on a sudden work trip and leaves them in the care of Ms. Morales and her daughter, Natalie. But puzzling clues left behind lead to complex codes, hidden rooms, and a dangerous secret that will turn their world upside down.

“A secret-stacked, thrilling series opener about perception, personal memories, and the idiosyncrasies that form individual identities.”–Publishers Weekly, starred review

“Maintain(s) suspense from the beginning to the cliffhanger ending…. A high-stakes adventure full of teamwork with a multifaceted mystery and complex themes.”– Kirkus Reviews

FAQs Discussion Guide (PDF)