Fish in Jonah's Puddle (To Say Nothing of the Demon)

The demon ate their parents. They intend to get them back.Jonah Hutchins didn't think twice about finding a salmon in a puddle in his backyard. He already had a dapper troll lurking in his basement and a snarky harpy roosting in the trees out front, after all. He didn't even flinch when the fish named Stuart announced that several nearby puddles were portals to other dimensions.But a demon also lurked in Stuart's puddle—and it swallowed Jonah's parents whole.Jonah and his sister Debbie refuse to let the demon make them orphans. So they gather Jonah's strange friends and plunge through the puddles into the worlds beyond on a wild rescue mission.They discover wondrous places like a cardboard kingdom where spilled water could end everything and a crumbling world full of ghosts and mouths. They meet weird new allies, including a massive plastic dragon and an octopus-headed prophetess. But the demon is still hungry, and it won't stop until it devours them all.This book combines the awestruck adventure of Impossible Creatures with the dark, hungry dread of Coraline. It is a celebration of the imagination's power and a whirlwind ride you won't soon forget.Welcome to The Fish in Jonah's Puddle. Are you ready? Editorial Reviews"e;Leavitt is an expert worldbuilder, and his middle-grade debut incorporates fantasy and horror into a fast-paced, dimension-hopping adventure that hinges on the importance of imagination. Leavitt pulls young readers deeper into his creative mindset, where whimsical figures become unrelenting warriors. As these ragtag allies skillfully battle evil, their rollercoaster ride is powered by Leavitt's full-throttle ingenuity firing on all cylinders."e;—BookLife from Publishers Weekly"e;Leavitt balances absurd humor with surprisingly grotesque imagery, allowing the novel to become frightening without losing its playful personality. Leavitt refreshes the familiar portal-adventure framework with creations that are strange, funny, and often wonderfully unexpected."e;—The BookLife Prize"e;Wardrobes, phone booths, rabbit holes, and tornadoes, clear room for demonic puddles! Weird, wild, and darkly funny, The Fish in Jonah's Puddle (To Say Nothing of the Demon) is a portal fantasy where imagination is dangerously good. Listen to the talking salmon! Follow Jonah into the puddle!"e;—Black Gate"e;Dive into a world of whimsy, hilarity, and danger, with talking fish and demons—but be ready to never know what might come next! Perhaps what stood out to me most was how the demon swallowing Jonah's parents whole reminded me of the rhinoceros that took away James' parents in James and the Giant Peach. But where that opening scarred me for years, The Fish in Jonah's Puddle did something to heal it up. It's a delightfully fun and suspenseful read, and it'd be perfect to take to the beach this summer; who KNOWS what could be in THAT big puddle!"e;—Reedsy Discovery"e;The prose shifts effortlessly between eloquent and delightfully silly, doubling down on the make-believe aesthetic Leavitt has crafted. A tale that channels the madcap sparkle of Lewis Carroll and the sturdy spiritual heft of C. S. Lewis, The Fish in Jonah's Puddle (To Say Nothing of the Demon) is both wonderfully whimsical and gently profound."e;—Indies Today (Recommended)