Author: Nicole Lesperance

Kirkus recently published a great review for The Dream Spies, calling it “a colorful, entertaining romp” and saying, “As before, Maren is an endearing, plucky sleuth. The pace quickens and things turn more sinister when it becomes clear that there’s a mastermind with nefarious goals. Family and loyalty lie at the center of the story, with Maren’s close-knit community serving to ground and support her.”

Read the full review.

I’ve been sitting on this news for a while, but I can finally share that my next YA book, THE DEPTHS, will be coming out from Penguin/Razorbill in fall 2022. It’s a twist on the usual gothic horror story, in that I’ve set it on a tropical island instead of a haunted house, and here is the official description:

After she suffers a near-fatal freediving accident, seventeen-year-old Addie tags along on her mother’s honeymoon to a private island where she unearths dark secrets — wandering ghosts, bloodthirsty flowers, and a deep pool where no one feels pain — before realizing the island might not be willing to let her go.

You can add it on Goodreads now!

The next book in the Nightmare Thief series is official! It’s called The Dream Spies, and Maren’s adventures continue when she discovers a shady-sounding summer camp for dreamers and decides to investigate. You can read more about it and see the cover here.

THE WIDE STARLIGHT has gotten another starred review, this time from The Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books. I spent so many years writing and revising this book, and it’s wonderful to finally see all that work paying off. The review will be published in the BCCB’s January issue, and here’s a quote:

“The pages fly by as Lesperance’s compelling voice and masterful switching between present-day narrative and fairy-tale past smoothly build a portrait of intergenerational love, loss, and magic rooted in a glittering Arctic landscape.”

I’m giving away a signed bookplate, bookmark, and custom dream recipe to anybody who preorders THE NIGHTMARE THIEF (or requests it from their library). And one person will win a book of their choice from Silver Unicorn Books!

To enter, fill in this form.

School Library Journal gave THE WIDE STARLIGHT a lovely review, saying, “This mesmerizing and sometimes heartbreaking fantasy reveals the complicated relationships between mothers and daughters while exploring mental illness, loss, regret, guilt, and forgiveness.” The full review is behind a paywall, but you can check it out here.

Last week I found out that THE NIGHTMARE THIEF is also a Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection. It makes me so happy to think of both of my books making their way to libraries all over the country. Thanks so much for making this happen, JLG!

This week, Publishers Weekly wrote a great review of THE NIGHTMARE THIEF, and they summarized the plot so much better than I’ve ever managed to! Here’s my favorite quote: “Lesperance crafts a resourceful heroine whose loyalty forces her to confront a difficult situation and come out stronger. She also folds a satisfying sense of wonder into the quaint town, balanced with a chilling element of darkness.”

Check out the full review.

THE WIDE STARLIGHT got a starred review from Kirkus this week. It said, “With her vividly rendered settings, emotionally complex characters, and sweet and sinister magical realism, Lesperance may be a promising successor to Alice Hoffman.” With the slight caveat that my book genre is fabulism or contemporary fantasy, not magical realism, I’m absolutely thrilled! You can read the full review here.

I’m so honored to share that THE WIDE STARLIGHT is a Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection. I basically grew up in a library, so this is absolutely thrilling!