Alice with a Why
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- Pre-Order
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- Expected 6 Jan 2026
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- USD 8.99
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- Pre-Order
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- USD 8.99
Publisher Description
An Indie Next List Pick!
⋆"A cleverly constructed return to Wonderland...a winner through and through." --Booklist (starred review)
⋆"This homage sparkles. Delightful in every way."--Kirkus reviews (starred review)
From #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Chronicles of Whetherwhy and Pages & Co. series, comes a retelling of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland wherein Alice’s granddaughter finds herself tumbling down into Wonderland.
Journey back to Wonderland . . .
England, 1919. Alyce–with a Y–is sent to live with her grandmother, the original Alice, after having lost her father in war. When a mysterious invitation to a tea party hits her square in the face, Alyce realizes her grandmother’s strange stories of a place called Wonderland might have some truth to them after all.
Soon Alyce is tumbling down into Wonderland herself, but the place she finds is not the colorful world she's heard stories of, but a world trapped in its own war. The Sun King and the Queen of the Moon are fighting over a stolen hour, and soon Alyce is tasked with setting it right. With the help of the Mad Hatter, the Cheshire Cat and a Sailor Fox, Alyce will have to solve Wonderland’s problems and, eventually, find her way back home.
An enchanting adventure through Wonderland, Alice With a Why is both a celebration of Lewis Carroll’s beloved original story, and a modern masterpiece.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
The granddaughter of a familiar heroine embarks on her own magical quest in this beguiling reimagining of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. During the Great War, young Alyce's English countryside home also housed wounded soldiers, cared for by her paternal grandmother, Alice, and Alyce's mother, Sylvie. Following the war's conclusion and Sylvie's departure for London to tend to her own ailing parent, Alyce lives alone with her grandmother, who tells odd stories about white rabbits, vanishing cats, and growing to gigantic heights. Upon discovering a mysterious invitation while folding paper boats beside a nearby pond, Alyce tumbles into the water—and appears in a war-torn Wonderland. Three strangers—an anthropomorphic hare and dormouse, as well as a man in a peculiar hat—inform Alyce that the Sun King and the Queen of the Moon are feuding. And though the trio wishes she was her grandmother ("the other Alice"), they set the youth on a perilous quest to put things to rights. This upbeat ode by James (the Chronicles of Whetherwhy series) faithfully captures the essence of the inspiration material's wild logic, sharp wordplay, and extensive whimsy. Land's b&w illustrations, depicting white-cued characters, recall the warmth of John Tenniel's fluid artwork. Ages 8–12.
