Seanan McGuire returns to her popular Wayward Children series with Down Among the Sticks and Bones--a truly standalone story suitable for adult and young adult readers of urban fantasy, and the follow-up to the Alex, Hugo, Nebula, and Locus Award-winning, World Fantasy Award finalist, Tiptree Honor List book Every Heart a DoorwayTwin sisters Jack and Jill were seventeen when they found their way home and were packed off to Eleanor Wests Home for Wayward Children.This is the story of what happened first...Jacqueline was her mothers perfect daughter--polite and quiet, always dressed as a princess. If her mother was sometimes a little strict, its because crafting the perfect daughter takes discipline.Jillian was her fathers perfect daughter--adventurous, thrill-seeking, and a bit of a tom-boy. He really would have preferred a son, but you work with what youve got.They were five when they learned that grown-ups cant be trusted. They were twelve when they walked down the impossible staircase and discovered that the pretense of love can never be enough to prepare you a life filled with magic in a land filled with mad scientists and death and choices.