A Tale of Plagues and Perfumes

By Jake Halpern and Peter Kujawinski

"A stunningly original fantasy world that will blow your mind." --Eoin Colfer, #1 New York Times-bestselling author

"A delightful, redolent adventure--I couldn't put it down . . . I'll never sniff a spice drawer the same way again." --Catherine Gilbert Murdock, Newbery Honor-winning author of The Book of Boy

Impossible Creatures meets The Inquisitor's Tale in this immersive middle grade fantasy adventure that follows a girl who must use her remarkable sense of smell to save the world from a terrifying plague.

Every scent tells a story.

The last thing Nia wants is to be branded a "Sinsory." Where she comes from, that's just as deadly as the plagues that sweep through the land. That's why she keeps her unusually keen sense of smell a secret. Only two people in the city of Yerat know of her special abilities: her beloved Auntie and her best friend, Fox. But when the worst plague in a century hits their desert continent, all of that suddenly changes.

An invitation arrives in the shape of a jar of blackcurrant jam. Nia is asked to attend the Cloister, a select and secluded school for children with heightened senses. There she meets Scentiers, like her, but also Gazers, Whisper-Gatherers, and many more, whose sensory powers go far beyond what regular folk can smell, see, or hear.

It's there that Nia learns her nose knows far more than she ever dreamed . . . maybe enough to find the cure for the plague. Or even sniff out the sinister secrets hiding in the Cloister's walls.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1250911087
• ISBN13: 9781250911087
• Release Date: January 2026
• Publisher: Roaring Brook Press
• Length: 352 Pages
• Weight: 1.00 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 5.4" x 8.3"
• Age Range: 8 to 12 years
• Grade Range: Grades 3 to 7