Hollow Chest

Debut author Brita Sandstrom arrives with an
unforgettable modern folktale of the darkness around and inside us, and the
courage it takes to keep hope alive.

Hollow Chest is remarkable on so many levelsits
exquisite writing, its startling originality, its deep empathy. An astonishing
debut. Anne Ursu, award-winning author of The Lost Girl

Charlie has been having nightmares. Eyes watching him in the
night, claws on his chest, holding him down. His dreams have been haunted for
years, ever since German bombs rained down on London, taking his fathers life,
taking his citys spirit, taking his beloved brother, Theo, off to war in
France.

Now Charlie is left to take care of his grandpa Fitz while his mother
works, waiting for the day when Theo will come home. And with World War II
nearly won, that day is almost here. Grandpa Fitz warns Charlie that soldiers
sometimes come back missing a piece of themselves, but Charlie isnt worried.
Whatever Theo has lost, Charlie will help him find it.

When Theo finally does return, though, he is cold and
distant. But Charlie refuses to accept that the brother he knew is gone, and
soon, he discovers the reason for his brothers change: war wolves. Terrifying
ancient beasts who consume the hearts of those broken by grief.

The wolves have followed soldiers back home from the front.
And if Charlie truly wants to save Theo, hes going to have to find them and
get his brothers heart back. But can a heart thats been eaten ever be
replaced?