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Series · portal fantasy
Wayward Children
The Wayward Children series by Seanan McGuire has 12 known books (11 published; 1 announced) and is best read in publication order, starting with Every Heart a Doorway (2016). The latest book with a fully recorded publication date is Through Gates of Garnet and Gold. The next announced book, A Song of Sugar Sparrows, is due 12 January 2027.
- Books
- 12 known books (12 novellas)
- Published
- 11
- Announced
- 1
- First published
- 2016
- Status
- ongoing
- Shelved under
- Fantasy
- Last checked
Start here: Every Heart a Doorway (2016) — then read straight through in publication order.
Reading order
The date order of published books and any announced future entries — the default way to read the series. Announced future books are marked below.
- Book 1:
Every Heart a Doorway
Every Heart a Doorway opens the Wayward Children series in 2016 at Eleanor West's boarding school for children sent back from their portal worlds, introducing Nancy, newly returned from the Halls of the Dead, just as students start turning up murdered. It is followed by Down Among the Sticks and Bones.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Every Heart a Doorway - Book 2:
Down Among the Sticks and Bones
Down Among the Sticks and Bones sits between Every Heart a Doorway and Beneath the Sugar Sky in the Wayward Children series, a direct prequel arriving in 2017 that follows twins Jack and Jill into their gothic world of the Moors.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Down Among the Sticks and Bones - Book 3:
Beneath the Sugar Sky
Beneath the Sugar Sky is the third novella in the Wayward Children series, published in 2018, following Sumi and Rini through the candy-colored logic of Confection, one of the school's portal worlds.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Beneath the Sugar Sky - Book 4:
In an Absent Dream
In an Absent Dream precedes Come Tumbling Down in the Wayward Children series, published in 2019 and opening Katherine Lundy's Goblin Market arc, one of the internal timelines Seanan McGuire threads through the later books.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of In an Absent Dream - Book 5:
Come Tumbling Down
Published in 2020, Come Tumbling Down belongs to the Wayward Children series, returning to Jack and Jill's story from Down Among the Sticks and Bones as Seanan McGuire's slim, self-contained novellas continue to expand the school's roster of doors.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Come Tumbling Down - Book 6:
Across the Green Grass Fields
Across the Green Grass Fields is a novella in the Wayward Children series, published in 2021, introducing a new student and a new portal world in Seanan McGuire's format of standalone entries centered on a different child's door each time.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Across the Green Grass Fields - Book 7:
Where the Drowned Girls Go
Written by Seanan McGuire, Where the Drowned Girls Go appeared in Wayward Children in 2022, taking a darker look at what happens to students who want out of Eleanor West's school entirely.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Where the Drowned Girls Go - Book 8:
Lost in the Moment and Found
Coming after Where the Drowned Girls Go and before Mislaid in Parts Half-Known, Lost in the Moment and Found was published in 2023, continuing Seanan McGuire's Hugo and Nebula Award-winning interrogation of who gets chosen by a portal world and who gets left behind.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Lost in the Moment and Found - Book 9:
Mislaid in Parts Half-Known
Book 9 of the Wayward Children series, Mislaid in Parts Half-Known appeared in 2024, part of Katherine Lundy's ongoing Goblin Market storyline within Seanan McGuire's slim, self-contained novella format.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Mislaid in Parts Half-Known - Book 10:
Adrift in Currents Clean and Clear
Running 160 pages, Adrift in Currents Clean and Clear was published in 2025 as part of the Wayward Children series, continuing Seanan McGuire's expanding cast of students and doors more than a decade after Every Heart a Doorway.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Adrift in Currents Clean and Clear - Book 11:
Through Gates of Garnet and Gold
Through Gates of Garnet and Gold follows Adrift in Currents Clean and Clear in the Wayward Children series, published in 2026 as Seanan McGuire's Hugo and Nebula Award-winning portal-fantasy series continued to grow.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Through Gates of Garnet and Gold - Book 12:
A Song of Sugar Sparrows
A Song of Sugar Sparrows follows Through Gates of Garnet and Gold as the next installment of the Wayward Children series, dated 2027 and keeping up Seanan McGuire's slim, self-contained novella format at more than a decade since the series began.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of A Song of Sugar Sparrows
About the Wayward Children series
Every child who falls through a door into a magical land and comes home changed needs somewhere to go -- Eleanor West's Home for Wayward Children is that somewhere, a boarding school for kids who found their door, lived their story, and got sent back to a world that no longer fits. Every Heart a Doorway opens the series with Nancy, newly returned from the Halls of the Dead, arriving at the school just as students start turning up murdered, and uses the mystery to introduce Miss West's taxonomy of portal worlds -- Logic and Nonsense, Wicked and Virtue, High and Low Cheer -- that structures the rest of the series.
Each entry is a slim, self-contained novella that can stand alone, focused on a different student's door and the impossible world beyond it, though several form direct duologies and trilogies (Jack and Jill's Moors in Down Among the Sticks and Bones, Sumi and Rini's Confection in Beneath the Sugar Sky, Katherine Lundy's Goblin Market arc across In an Absent Dream and later books). Seanan McGuire uses the format to interrogate portal-fantasy conventions themselves -- who gets chosen, who gets left behind, and what it costs to not fit anywhere anymore -- with prose that's spare, aching, and frequently devastating.
Hugo and Nebula Award-winning and hugely influential on the current wave of portal fantasy, Wayward Children is a series readers can dip into a book at a time; at eleven-plus entries and counting, it rewards both selective and completionist reading.
Frequently asked questions
How many books are in the Wayward Children series?
11 novellas published as of Through Gates of Garnet and Gold (January 2026), with a 12th, A Song of Sugar Sparrows, confirmed for January 12, 2027.
What order should I read Wayward Children in?
Publication order, starting with Every Heart a Doorway, is recommended for new readers. Some entries (like Down Among the Sticks and Bones) are prequels in-world, but each book is largely self-contained.
Can I read Wayward Children books as standalones?
Mostly yes -- each novella centers a different student and door, so you can read selectively. A few entries form closer duologies or arcs (especially the Lundy/Goblin Market books), which reward reading together.
Is Wayward Children finished?
No, it is ongoing. A Song of Sugar Sparrows is confirmed for January 12, 2027.
Has Wayward Children won any awards?
Yes -- Every Heart a Doorway won the Hugo, Nebula, and Locus Awards for Best Novella, and the series has continued to receive major genre award recognition.
If you like the Wayward Children series
Reading order last verified .