Young Writers Society

The people Emi care about have a habit of dying. She lost her parents to a car crash when she was one. Her older sister Jess died in a fire when Emi was in seventh grade. On the day of her middle school graduation, Emi's adoptive mom died. So when she sees a car racing towards her best friend and crush Juliet Clarke, Emi decides to push her out of the way.

But that's just the beginning of Emi's story.

Emi finds herself on an entirely new world: Arium, a world where the dead people of Earth had a habit of ending up. Emi doesn't know how she ended up there. All she knows that is that she's been given a second chance – and a special power to call her own. While most people on Arium accept that they're never getting back to their old lives, Emi is convinced that she can find a way. She'll do whatever it takes to get back to Juliet.

But Arium is full of mysteries.

Its lore is full of holes. The only explanation for the dead arriving in Arium and gaining special powers is a deity that no one has seen since the world's creation. Emi's new home – a kingdom that's a strange mix of modern and ancient – is under threat. Even Emi's new friends have mysteries and secrets. While one has too many connections and enemies, the other has no power despite being one of Earth's dead. And at the heart of it all is a question that Emi was never brave enough to ask:

Is her sister really dead?