Regan Lewis loves horses and, more than anything, wants to be normal — to keep the friends and the ordinary girlhood she has carefully protected. But when a moment of cruelty on the playground collides with a private truth about her own body, Regan bolts, and finds a door standing where no door should be, bearing the words "Be Sure." She steps through, into the Hooflands.
On the other side is a wide green world populated by centaurs, kelpies, fauns, and unicorns, where a human child is a rare and ominous arrival: welcome, but a sign that trouble is on its way, because the Hooflands believes its human visitors are destined to be heroes. Taken in by a centaur family, Regan grows up among the herd, finding love and belonging she never expected — and slowly learning that heroism is not always what the stories promise, and that not every quest is what it seems.
A fully standalone Wayward Children novella with an entirely new protagonist, Seanan McGuire's sixth entry is a warm, thoughtful portal fantasy about difference, self-acceptance, and the courage to define heroism on your own terms.