Books published by publisher McSweeney's McMullens

Sophie Swankowski is the hero from the stories she's been hearing all her life: she's the girl who will save the world. Or so she's been told. Now she and her unlikely guardian—the gruff, filthy mermaid Syrena—must travel the pitch-black seas from broken-down Chelsea, Massachusetts, to Syrena’s homeland in Poland. Along the way, Syrena will reveal the terrible truth about her past, and teach Sophie about the ages-old source of her newly discovered power. But left behind in Chelsea, without Sophie to protect them from the dark magic she's awakened, what will become of Sophie’s friends and family?Girl at the Bottom of the Sea is the follow-up to Michelle Tea's beloved Mermaid in Chelsea Creek, "a refreshing breath of air in the world of YA, equal parts eerie, heartbreaking, and fantastical." (ZYZZYVA).

Computers have failed, electricity is extinct, and the race to discover new lands is underway! Brilliant explorer Alexander West has just died under mysterious circumstances, but not before smuggling half of a strange map to his intrepid children—Kit the brain, M.K. the tinkerer, and Zander the brave. Why are so many government agents trying to steal the half-map? (And where is the other half?) It’s up to Alexander’s children—the Expeditioners—to get to the bottom of these questions, and fast.

Kit, Zander, and M. K. West are settling into their new lives as students at the Academy for the Exploratory Sciences when Kit finds another mysterious map left for him by their father, the brilliant, famous — and presumed dead — explorer Alexander West. Why did Alexander leave the maps behind, and why are government agents so determined to seize them? What is really going on in a mysterious and unknown stretch of the Caribbean, famous for its violent storms and shipwrecks? And what is the huge contraption M. K. is building in her workshop? As two world powers come to the brink of war, Kit must find a deadly hidden island and unlock its secrets, hoping he has the courage to follow the trail of maps, wherever it may lead.

Two young children tour their noisy house with fresh eyes, discovering along the way that all is not as it seems. Featuring heat-sensitive, color-changing ink on every page, this book contains dozens of delightful surprises. Among them: a giant dog slumbering in a piano, a wishing puddle full of dimes, a raccoon that is actually a robot, and a camera that is secretly made of cheese.

We are very curious about the Swinster Pharmacy. We stay up late every night wondering what sort of eerie secrets it contains. Why are there three Styrofoam heads in the windows? Who is the owner? Is it really closed on weekends? Renowned investigator Lemony Snicket has compiled 29 myths about this bewildering establishment, in the vain hope that he could help us shine some light on this enduring mystery.

Everyone in the broken-down town of Chelsea, Massachussetts, has a story too worn to repeat—from the girls who play the pass-out game just to feel like they're somewhere else, to the packs of aimless teenage boys, to the old women from far away who left everything behind. But there’s one story they all still tell: the oldest and saddest but most hopeful story, the one about the girl who will be able to take their twisted world and straighten it out. The girl who will bring the magic.Could Sophie Swankowski be that girl? With her tangled hair and grubby clothes, her weird habits and her visions of a filthy, swearing mermaid who comes to her when she’s unconscious, Sophie could be the one to uncover the power flowing beneath Chelsea’s potholed streets and sludge-filled rivers, and the one to fight the evil that flows there, too. Sophie might discover her destiny, and maybe even in time to save them all.

Computers have failed, electricity is extinct, and the race to discover new lands is underway! In this nail-bitingly thrilling adventure novel, brilliant explorer Alexander West has just died under mysterious circumstances, but not before smuggling half of a strange map to his intrepid children — Kit, the brain, M. K., the tinkerer, and Zander, the brave. Why are so many government agents trying to steal the half-map? What powerful secrets does it hold? And where is the other half? It's up to Alexander's children — the Expeditioners — to get to the bottom of these questions, and fast.

The Neverending Story is Michael Ende’s best-known book, but Momo—published six years earlier—is the all-ages fantasy novel that first won him wide acclaim. After the sweet-talking gray men come to town, life becomes terminally efficient. Can Momo, a young orphan girl blessed with the gift of listening, vanquish the ashen-faced time thieves before joy vanishes forever? With gorgeous new drawings by Marcel Dzama and a new translation from the German by Lucas Zwirner, this all-new 40th anniversary edition celebrates the book’s first U.S. publication in over 25 years.

Computers have failed, electricity is extinct, and the race to discover new lands is underway! In this nail-bitingly thrilling adventure novel, brilliant explorer Alexander West has just died under mysterious circumstances, but not before smuggling half of a strange map to his intrepid children — Kit, the brain, M. K., the tinkerer, and Zander, the brave. Why are so many government agents trying to steal the half-map? What powerful secrets does it hold? And where is the other half? It's up to Alexander's children — the Expeditioners — to get to the bottom of these questions, and fast.

Computers have failed, electricity is extinct, and the race to discover new lands heats up in the thrilling second book of the award-winning Expeditioners series.Kit, Zander, and M.K. West are settling into their new lives as students at the Academy for the Exploratory Sciences when Kit finds another mysterious map left for him by their father, the brilliant, famous — and presumed dead—Explorer Alexander West. Why did Alexander leave the maps behind, and why are government agents so determined to seize them? What is really going on in a mysterious and unknown stretch of the Caribbean, famous for its violent storms and shipwrecks? And what is the huge contraption M.K. is building in her workshop? As two world powers come to the brink of war, Kit must find a deadly hidden island and unlock its secrets, hoping he has the courage to follow the trail of maps, wherever it may lead.

A speckled horse wonders why he was made a horse. Can the sassy sheep, who claims to be a good tennis player, help him find understanding? And wait a minute: How can that sheep even play tennis if she doesn't have hands? Perhaps the bright light holds answers. Or the talking apple. Or the singing grass.We Need a Horse, the first children's book from author Sheila Heti and painter Clare Rojas, asks big questions with a gentle hand. We Need a Horse is a timeless book for quiet moods, and makes especially good reading for anyone who likes to ask "Why?"As a double bonus, the book's jacket is reversible, and also unfurls into a large square poster that invites the reader to fall into Rojas's quietly majestic artwork.