A Tale of Plagues and Perfumes
Impossible Creatures meets The Inquisitor's Tale in this immersive middle grade fantasy adventure that follows a girl who must use her remarkable sense of smell to save the world from a terrifying plague.

Every scent tells a story.

The last thing Nia wants is to be branded a "Sinsory." Where she comes from, that's just as deadly as the plagues that sweep through the land. That's why she keeps her unusually keen sense of smell a secret. Only two people in the city of Yerat know of her special abilities: her beloved Auntie and her best friend, Fox. But when the worst plague in a century hits their desert continent, all of that suddenly changes.

An invitation arrives in the shape of a jar of blackcurrant jam. Nia is asked to attend the Cloister, a select and secluded school for children with heightened senses. There she meets Scentiers, like her, but also Gazers, Whisper-Gatherers, and many more, whose sensory powers go far beyond what regular folk can smell, see, or hear.

It's there that Nia learns her nose knows far more than she ever dreamed . . . maybe enough to find the cure for the plague. Or even sniff out the sinister secrets hiding in the Cloister's walls.

1147377242
A Tale of Plagues and Perfumes
Impossible Creatures meets The Inquisitor's Tale in this immersive middle grade fantasy adventure that follows a girl who must use her remarkable sense of smell to save the world from a terrifying plague.

Every scent tells a story.

The last thing Nia wants is to be branded a "Sinsory." Where she comes from, that's just as deadly as the plagues that sweep through the land. That's why she keeps her unusually keen sense of smell a secret. Only two people in the city of Yerat know of her special abilities: her beloved Auntie and her best friend, Fox. But when the worst plague in a century hits their desert continent, all of that suddenly changes.

An invitation arrives in the shape of a jar of blackcurrant jam. Nia is asked to attend the Cloister, a select and secluded school for children with heightened senses. There she meets Scentiers, like her, but also Gazers, Whisper-Gatherers, and many more, whose sensory powers go far beyond what regular folk can smell, see, or hear.

It's there that Nia learns her nose knows far more than she ever dreamed . . . maybe enough to find the cure for the plague. Or even sniff out the sinister secrets hiding in the Cloister's walls.

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A Tale of Plagues and Perfumes

A Tale of Plagues and Perfumes

A Tale of Plagues and Perfumes

A Tale of Plagues and Perfumes

Hardcover

$18.99 
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Overview

Impossible Creatures meets The Inquisitor's Tale in this immersive middle grade fantasy adventure that follows a girl who must use her remarkable sense of smell to save the world from a terrifying plague.

Every scent tells a story.

The last thing Nia wants is to be branded a "Sinsory." Where she comes from, that's just as deadly as the plagues that sweep through the land. That's why she keeps her unusually keen sense of smell a secret. Only two people in the city of Yerat know of her special abilities: her beloved Auntie and her best friend, Fox. But when the worst plague in a century hits their desert continent, all of that suddenly changes.

An invitation arrives in the shape of a jar of blackcurrant jam. Nia is asked to attend the Cloister, a select and secluded school for children with heightened senses. There she meets Scentiers, like her, but also Gazers, Whisper-Gatherers, and many more, whose sensory powers go far beyond what regular folk can smell, see, or hear.

It's there that Nia learns her nose knows far more than she ever dreamed . . . maybe enough to find the cure for the plague. Or even sniff out the sinister secrets hiding in the Cloister's walls.


Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781250911087
Publisher: Roaring Brook Press
Publication date: 01/13/2026
Pages: 352
Product dimensions: 5.38(w) x 8.25(h) x 1.00(d)
Age Range: 10 - 14 Years

About the Author

About The Author
Jake Halpern is the author of Bad Paper, an Amazon Best Book of 2014, and Nightfall, one of a number of young adult novels. His journalism has appeared in the New Yorker, the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and the Atlantic, among many other publications. He is also a contributor to NPR’s All Things Considered and This American Life and teaches journalism at Yale University in New Haven, where he lives.

Peter Kujawinski is a journalist, author and former American foreign service officer who is is a frequent contributor to The New York Times. With co-author Jake Halpern, he has written five young adult novels, including the New York Times bestseller, Nightfall.

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