The Transition

Two transgender teens end up in a small, isolated town, where they must escape the locals who plan to sacrifice one of them to an ancient monster that only eats girls. A pulse-pounding thriller perfect for fans of Midsommar and Hell Followed with Us!<BR><BR>2026 ALA Rainbow Book List Selection<BR>2025 YALSA Best Fiction for Young Adults Book List Selection<BR>A BULLETIN OF THE CENTER FOR CHILDREN’S BOOKS BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR<BR><BR>Erin and Max are two transgender teens trying to get to California. Max is desperate to finally transition, and Erin is longing to understand why she’s on this trip to begin with. The last she spoke to Max was when he suddenly broke up with her two years ago.<BR><BR>But when they find themselves stranded in the middle of the woods in a small Kentucky town, they realize they have much bigger problems. The locals need a female sacrifice for the monster that lives in the woods—according to them, the sun won’t come up again until the monster eats a girl . . . and it only eats what it kills. Fighting back is futile; no one selected as the offering has ever survived the night. <BR><BR>When the two strangers show up, the locals believe they have the perfect candidate. The irony of the situation is almost too much to fathom.<BR><BR>The thing is, the locals don’t know who they just trapped as their sacrifice. They don’t know Erin’s and Max’s secrets, which could be a death sentence on a good day. And the monster that lives in their woods has never faced prey who have already fought so hard to live.

"Subversive and scary, with compelling characterisation, this YA horror thriller is a pulse-pounding debut." The Guardian<BR><BR>"Had me on the edge of my seat." Bill Wood, author of Let's Split Up<BR><BR>Two trans teens end up in a small, isolated town, where they must escape the locals who plan to sacrifice one of them to an ancient monster that only eats girls... <BR><BR>Erin and Max are two trans kids, just trying to get to California. Max is desperate to finally be able to transition, and Erin is longing to understand why she's on this trip to begin with, after Max suddenly broke up with her two years earlier.<BR><BR> But when they find themselves stranded - and eventually separated - in the creepy woods of rural middle-America, they suddenly have much bigger problems.<BR><BR>First, there's the creature that, according to legend, feeds on girls, hunting them through the shadows.<BR> And then there are the locals, who are searching for a female sacrifice. If either of them hope to survive to see the sunrise, Erin and Max will have to come together and stop running: from their attackers, from each other, and, ultimately, from themselves.<BR><BR>More praise for OLD WOUNDS:<BR><BR>"Terrifying, tender, and unflinchingly honest. Old Wounds demands your attention from the very first page and never lets up." Rory Power, New York Times bestselling author of Wilder Girls<BR><BR>"Wholly original, endlessly subversive and genuinely terrifying." Laura Steven, author of The Society for Soulless Girls<BR><BR>"A terrifying, masterful debut... Old Wounds is a gripping exploration of gender, sacrifice and the real monsters we're running from." Lex Croucher