First published 2025
Thirteen-year-old Bran Joseph Lee has poured seven years into creating the Vale, a virtual reality world powered by his parents' technology and his own imagination. This digital realm features a Blue Forest, a Castle, and Bran's loyal companion Gnomly, an elf who loves mushrooms. The Vale offers escape from reality, where his inventor parents face one failed product launch after another. When Bran enters a multi-million dollar competition that could fund the Vale's future development, he hopes to finally bring his elves to full life. Instead, his carefully crafted world begins falling apart. The sunlight dims mysteriously. A strange girl materializes without explanation. A wizard steals from the Vale's residents. Most troubling of all, Bran knows he didn't program any of these changes. Together with Gnomly, he must solve the mystery threatening both his virtual creation and the real world beyond it.
Genres: science-fiction, adventure, fantasy, contemporary
Vibes: suspenseful, thought-provoking, whimsical
Tropes: found-family, mystery
Setting: Blue Forest, Castle, Vale
304 pages · Hardcover · Third State Books