Pia Paro, 12, lives in the island city-state of Dantessa, where skills in a wide range of games determine one’s access to resources. In theory, the biblical The Book of Play and its rules for all 8,684 games create an equitable society, with robotic-like arbiters policing the games, and a ruling Council in charge. In fact, wealthier players purchase boons that give them advantages in various games, while players whose skill level drops to 0 become pawns—laborers, who cannot play and have few chances to raise their status. Pia’s beloved grandfather was once a highly skilled player until his increasingly poor eyesight hampered his ability to compete. With her grandfather now a pawn, rule-follower Pia’s only hope is to earn enough money to buy him status as a player again. When she meets Vittoria, also 12, who’s putting together a ragtag team to complete against the odds in the annual Noctis competition, Pia agrees to join. Teams are comprised of players ages 12 to 15, and the winners are richly rewarded—and also, typically, already rich. Noctis requires both individual skills and teamwork. Over the course of their time practicing and competing, Pia and her teammates bond, their experiences and perspectives challenging her to question the foundations of their society and the inequity at its core, while revealing a cheating scheme that further undermines any chance of fairness. A diverse cast graces this original, fast-paced, richly imagined fantasy with a Venice-inspired setting.

An “exciting, fast-moving” (School Library Journal) middle grade fantasy about a girl who must participate in a deadly game with a ragtag team of players to save her grandfather from a terrible fate—perfect for fans of James Riley and Shannon Messenger!

In the opulent, sinking city of Dantessa, the Great Game rules all. Pia Paro believes that so long as you follow the rules, you always have a chance at winning. But after her beloved Gramps is sentenced to a life of servitude, Pia accepts a dangerous offer and joins a team of players seeking to win the most perilous game of all: Noctis.

The Seafoxes—Pia’s new teammates—are unlike anyone she’s ever met. There’s brash, bold Carlo; macabre Serafina; kindhearted Pasquale; and their dashing ringleader, Vittoria. Each has their own reason for playing, and soon, Pia begins to question all her long-held beliefs. Maybe the rules Pia once trusted to lift her up have only been keeping her—and thousands of others like her—down.

As she struggles with these revelations, Pia must survive a gauntlet of clockwork soldiers, perilous underwater adventures, and even a game against Death herself. But with Pia’s grandfather’s life at stake, Pia must finally decide whether she’s brave enough to not just break the rules, but to change the very nature of the Game.