Awards and HonorsOregon Reader's Choice Awards 2019 Nominee
North Carolina Young Adult Book Award 2017—2018 Nominee
Booklist 2016 Top 10 Books for Youth, Fantasy/Horror
The Kirkus Prize 2016 Nominee, Young Readers SLJ’s Best Books of 2016, Middle Grade Kirkus Reviews Best Books of 2016, Middle-Grade
NCTE Charlotte Huck Award for Outstanding Fiction for Children 2017, Honor Publishers Weekly Best Books of 2016, Middle Grade
New York Public Library 2016 Best Books for Kids, Fiction Booklist 2016 Editors’ Choice, Books for Youth, Middle Readers, Fiction Bookllist 2017 Top 10 Books for Youth, Middle-Grade Animal Stories
ALSC Notable Children’s Books 2017, Middle Readers BCCB 2016 Blue Ribbons, Fiction
E. B. White Read-Aloud Award 2017 Finalist, Middle Reader
Andre Norton Award for Excellence in Young Adult Science Fiction and Fantasy, 2016 Finalist VOYA Best Science Fiction, Fantasy, Horror 2016 VOYA Poetry Picks 2016
Every year, the people of the Protectorate leave a baby as an offering to the witch who lives in the forest, hoping this sacrifice will keep her from terrorizing their town.