The Vanishing of Katharina Linden

Shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal, Helen Grant's first teen novel The Vanishing of Katharina Linden follows a misfit teenager as she attempts to unravel the mystery of several strange disappearances in the small town of Bad Münstereifel. The Vanishing of Katharina Linden bridges the world of the traditional Grimm fairytale with the darker world of Angela Carter's adult fairytales. On the day Katharina Linden disappears, Pia is the last person to see her. Terror is spreading through the town. How could a ten-year-old girl vanish in a place where everybody knows everybody else? Pia is determined to find out what happened to Katharina. But then the next girl disappears. . . 'For something so chilling, it is terrific entertainment' Sunday Times 'Grant's splendid debut...is a feast of treats and creeps. Wonderful' Guardian 'A strange, haunting modern fairy tale' John Connolly, author of The Book of Lost Things The setting of the small German town of Bad Münstereifel, in Helen Grant's debut novel The Vanishing of Katharina Linden, is based on her own experience of emigrating there from England as a child. Her other darkly thrilling young adult novels, The Glass Demon and Wish Me Dead, are also available from Penguin.

Children's Books

Grant, Helen

Science Fiction & Fantasy

Puffin

The Glass Demon

The much-anticipated third novel from a writer set to rival the likes of Meg Rosoff, Mark Haddon and Kevin Brooks. Helen Grant's debut novel, The Vanishing of Katharina Linden, was shortlisted for the CILIP Carnegie Medal and the Booktrust Teenage Prize. A compulsive thriller.

Wish Me Dead

Literature & Fiction

Penguin Books, Ltd.

Not since The Elegance of the Hedgehog has a book arrived in America from Europe on such wings of critical praise and popularity. The Vanishing of Katharina Linden is an unforgettable debut—at once chilling and endearing, haunting and richly insightful—the story of one girl’s big heart and even bigger imagination, and of a world full of mystery, good, and evil. It isn’t ten-year-old Pia’s fault that her grandmother dies in a freak accident. But tell that to the citizens of Pia’s little German hometown of Bad Münstereifel, or to the classmates who shun her. The only one who still wants to be her friend is StinkStefan, the most unpopular child in school. But then something else captures the community’s attention: the vanishing of Katharina Linden. Katharina was last seen on a float in a parade, dressed as Snow White. Then, like a character in a Grimm’s fairy tale, she disappears. But, this being real life, she doesn’t return. Pia and Stefan suspect that Katharina has been spirited away by the supernatural. Their investigation is inspired by the instructive—and cautionary—local legends told to them by their elderly friend Herr Schiller, tales such as that of Unshockable Hans, visited by witches in the form of cats, or of the knight whose son is doomed to hunt forever. Then another girl disappears, and Pia is plunged into a new and unnerving place, one far away from fairy tales—and perilously close to adulthood. Marvelously morbid, stunningly suspenseful, and exceptionally winning, The Vanishing of Katharina Linden is a new coming-of-age classic, and the most accomplished fiction debut in years.

The Vanishing of Katharina Linden: A Novel

Contemporary

DELACORTE PRESS

After Pia’s grandmother dies in a freak accident, the neighbors in her little German hometown of Bad Münstereifel glance at Pia with wary eyes. But then something else captures the community’s attention: the vanishing of Katharina Linden. Katharina was last seen at a parade, dressed as Snow White. Then, like a character in a Grimm’s fairy tale, she disappeared. Ten-year-old Pia and her only friend, the unpopular StinkStefan, suspect that Katharina has been spirited away by the supernatural. Their investigation is inspired by such local legends as that of Unshockable Hans, visited by witches in the form of cats, or of the knight whose son is doomed to hunt forever. Then another girl vanishes, and Pia is plunged into a new and unnerving place, one far away from fairy tales—and perilously close to adulthood.

Genre Fiction

Random House Publishing Group

Delacorte Pr

Sometimes the path to the truth is paved with broken glass. Teenager Lin Fox is a stranger in a strange land—Germany, where her father has come on a quixotic quest to locate a priceless artifact. The medieval (and possibly mythical) Allerheiligen stained glass is believed by some to be lost, by others to have been destroyed, and by virtually all to be haunted. A mysterious letter persuades Dr. Oliver Fox that he can be the one to find it—but someone else is determined to ensure that the glass stays hidden forever. First, an elderly stranger is found dead in an orchard, then one of Oliver’s contacts is mysteriously drowned—both bodies inexplicably surrounded by shards of colored glass. As dark superstitions simmer, Lin embarks on her own search to find the glass. As her life comes to resemble the grimmest of fairy tales, she realizes that what she must find is not only the truth about the legendary glass but a way to save the lives of those she loves.

The Glass Demon: A Novel

Bantam]

Silent Saturday

Corgi Childrens

Demons of Ghent

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Books by Grant, Helen