Liz Hyder - Böcker

WINNER OF THE NERO PRIZE FOR CHILDREN'S FICTION

FROM THE AWARD-WINNING AUTHOR OF BEARMOUTH, COMES THIS HAUNTINGLY MAGICAL NEW NOVEL, HAILED BY READERS AS A MODERN CLASSIC

'Hauntingly beautiful' Hannah Gold, author of The Last Bear

'The Twelve reads like a modern classic, with echoes of Alan Garner, Marcus Sedgwick, and C.S. Lewis.' Essie Fox

'Dark, dreamy, surreal and beautiful.' Katya Balen, author of October, October

It's supposed to be a treat for Kit, a winter holiday by the coast with her sister Libby and their mum. But when Libby vanishes into thin air, and no one else remembers her, Kit is faced with a new reality - one in which her sister never existed.

Then she meets Story, a local boy who remembers Libby perfectly. Together they embark on a journey beyond their wildest imagination into a world steeped in ancient folklore. Can Kit and Story uncover the secret of the Twelve and rescue Libby before Time runs out?

How do you save someone lost in time?

At the stroke of midnight on winter solstice, Libby disappears - vanishing from the face of the Earth. Only her older sister, Kit, and a mysterious boy named Story remember that she ever existed.

To find Libby and bring her safely home, the pair must embark on a perilous journey into the distant past, across a land steeped in ancient folklore. Together, Kit and Story will face dangers beyond their wildest imagination as they race to uncover the secret of the Twelve before Time itself runs out...

The Twelve was the 2024 winner of the Nero Prize for Children's Fiction, winner of the 2025 Tir Na N-Og award in the English-language category, and was a Financial Times and Guardian Book of the Year.

PRAISE FOR THE TWELVE:

'Reminiscent of Alan Garner' Financial Times, Best Book of 2024

'Haunting and resonant, with echoes of Susan Cooper and Alan Garner' Guardian, Best YA Books of 2024

'A beguiling tale of ancient magic, good and evil, deeply rooted in the Welsh landscape' Observer

Winner of the Older Fiction category of the Waterstones Children's Book Prize and of the Branford Boase Award

'An extraordinary dystopian novel... compelling and original' Sunday Times, Book of the Year

'One of the most vivid, tough, bold and gripping books I've read in a long time' Katherine Rundell, author of Impossible Creatures

'A dazzling fable of oppression and hope' Financial Times, Books of the Year

Life in Bearmouth is one of hard labour, the sunlit world above the mine a distant memory. Reward will come in the next life with the benevolence of the Mayker.

Newt accepts everything - that is, until the mysterious Devlin arrives. Suddenly, Newt starts to look at Bearmouth with a fresh perspective, questioning the system, and setting in motion a chain of events that could destroy their entire world.