T.J. is still trying to get her mind around the move from the farm and her beloved horse to the suburbs outside de Lint’s Newford, when she discovers a really sharp and stylish teen runaway named Elizabeth inside her new house. She is only six inches tall, one of the Littles, and almost-15-year-old T.J. can’t get her mind around that reality, either. Once again, de Lint makes contemporary urban fantasy with very real teens, as T.J.’s backpack is stolen with Elizabeth in it. What follows are parallel and occasionally tandem adventures in finding stuff out: Elizabeth in what other ways Littles can live with scrounging and hiding; T.J. in the world of gnomes, Littles, elves and other folk who inhabit spaces hidden in her own world and ours. There are interesting boys and scary ones; ways of using fairy lore and common sense; and a satisfying dénouement involving a very clever use of a PDA. Oddly, there is no mention of earlier books about Littles, even though there’s a character in the story who has written about this particular batch. Expanded from an earlier short story, this will appeal to those unwilling to leave the Borrowers behind. (Fantasy. 12-14)
