Rose Coffin

Rose knows all about bullying, whether it’s about her clothes or her blushing cheeks. When SallyAnn, the most popular girl in class, asks Rose to join the band, Rose is skeptical but hopeful, and joins the group in the scary woods. She pours her heart out into the tryout, only to find out that SallyAnn just wanted video footage for more bullying. Rose is so embarrassed, even the next morning, that she runs into the woods instead of getting on the bus. There the people of Eppersett, a town in the woods, are so excited to see her – she’s the one, the one who will save them from the Abomination! She soon realizes, however, that no one will save her, as her death is the only way to save the town.

This fantastical adventure is set in a world with strange creatures who experience many of the same things as Rose: crippling doubt, unending bullying, and impossible hope. It is similar to Percy Jackson’s epic adventures in The Lightning Thief>/em> and Alice in Alice in Wonderland. Rose is the downtrodden hero who may be the only one to save them, at such great cost, and it is her growth that propels this story along beautifully.