Children of the Flying City

Go!

The boy survived, as boys sometimes do. For years, on and off the streets. He did many things, saw many things, suffered many things. A few of them left scars, and a lot of them made for good stories, but we don t have time for any of those right now.

Because right now it is later. Years. And the boy ­twelve now, almost thirteen ­squats, fingers gripping the crumbling concrete between his too-­small shoes, on the low wall at the edge of a roof six stories up. He s watching the cops scramble up the creaking fire escape and counting down the time until their arrival.

He says, Ten seconds, Jules, and flexes his toes inside his shoes, ready to run, to jump, to fly if he needs to.

Jules says, I know.

And I m being generous.

I know.

Jules is big and strong and just a little bit older than the boy. They ve found the door they need to go through. One they d scouted the night before and the night before that. On those nights, there was no lock. Now there is. Because that s just the way life works: things only go wrong when it really matters.

Mouse looks past Jules as he pulls at the lock and rams his shoulder into the door. She says the boy s name, and he glances back at her and smiles quickly, as if to tell her not to worry. Not about any little thing ever. He pulls up the scarf he wears over his head, covers his mouth and nose, smothering that smile. But Mouse knows it s still there.

The cops are upset. Yelling up the fire escape at the boy crouched there watching them. They re angry at being made to run and climb and jump. If they make it to the roof, they won t be wagging their fingers and scolding the boy and his friends. The police will break their bones with lead-­weighted clubs and then throw their bodies off the roof to smash on the pavement below.

Slipped while fleeing. All three of them.

Tragic. Of course.

The boy is fine with this. He understands the rules and plays by them, too. He d been up on the roof by

Jason Sheehan

Sheehan crafts a richly detailed world and uses multiple points of view to relate the narrative, keeping the characters central to the high-stakes plot. Following in the tradition of Kenneth Oppel s Airborn and Philip Reeve s Fever Crumb, this fantasy, full of lessons about close friendships and the power of fighting for what s right, will hook readers seeking adventure. Booklist

An arch, omniscient narrative by turns brutal and sweet unspools into an ambitious, wide-ranging story of survival and loyalty. Publishers Weekly

"Perfect for anyone who loves action and mystery and cliffhanger endings. SLC

Richly imagined and emotionally resonant, Children of the Flying City is a fantasy for young and old alike. At times evoking the starkness of Cormac McCarthy and the dark, humanistic fantasy of Stephen King, Sheehan will make your imagination soar, tear your heart back to the ground, dust you off, then send you back to the sky with a grin on your face. This book gave my heart wings.
Pierce Brown, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Red Rising
 
Children of the Flying City feels, at once, timeless and wondrously, gloriously new. Jason Sheehan has crafted the bones of a great story, the prickling flesh of unforgettable characters, the gasp of gorgeous language, and he's tucked a velvety, multi-chambered secret at the book's center.
Katie Williams, author of Tell the Machine Goodnight