The threads on Zlata's beautiful birthday blouse were knotted by her mother's hands. Red is for love, and black is for sadness, her Papa says. Her Mama warns her not to show it off. Ever since the Communists came from Russia to Ukraine, they prohibited the teaching of Ukrainian culture. They've even taken the grain from Zlata's family's fields. But despite the danger, her parents refuse to give up their art, language, or beliefs. As Zlata works to...

Neely’s monsters don’t always follow her rules, so when the little girl under her bed, the man in her closet, and the disembodied voice that shadows her every move become louder, she knows she’s in trouble. With a history of mental illness in her family and the suicide of her older brother heavy on her mind, Neely takes a job as a tour guide in the one place her monsters can’t follow—the caverns. There . . . she meets Mila. Mila is everything...