The Spirit Bares Its Teeth

Ages 14 And Up, Grades 9 And Up

INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER!

A Stonewall Honor Book in Young Adult Literature!

SPRAYED EDGES—Paperback edition features gorgeous violet edges! Bestselling author Andrew Joseph White returns with the transgressive gothic horror of our time!

Mors vincit omnia. Death conquers all.

London, 1883. The Veil between the living and dead has thinned. Violet-eyed mediums commune with spirits under the watchful eye of the Royal Speaker Society, and sixteen-year-old trans, autistic Silas Bell would rather rip out his violet eyes than become an obedient Speaker wife.

After a failed attempt to escape an arranged marriage, Silas is diagnosed with Veil sickness—a mysterious disease sending violet-eyed women into madness—and shipped away to Braxton’s Finishing School and Sanitorium. When the ghosts of missing students start begging Silas for help, he decides to reach into Braxton’s innards and expose its guts to the world—so long as the school doesn’t break him first.

Featuring an autistic trans protagonist in a historical setting, Andrew Joseph White’s much-anticipated sophomore novel does not back down from exposing the violence of the patriarchy and the harm inflicted on trans youth who are forced into conformity.

A Stonewall Honor Book in Young Adult Literature

A Chicago Public Library 'Best of the Best' Book

A Locus Award Finalist

A Kirkus Reviews Best Young Adult Book of the Year

A BCCB Blue Ribbon Book!

A Booklist Editors’ Choice

A Shelf Awareness Best Book of the Year!

A School Library Journal Best Book of the Year

About the Author

Andrew Joseph White is a queer, trans author from Virginia, where he grew up falling in love with monsters and wishing he could be one too. He received his MFA in Creative Writing from George Mason University in 2022  and has a habit of cuddling random street cats. Andrew writes about trans kids with claws and fangs, and what happens when they bite back.

Author Residence: Fairfax, Virginia

Author Hometown: Winchester, Virginia

Queer and neurodivergent teens seeking empowering stories that face real-world horrors head-on  Librarians and booksellers looking to expand their LGBTQIA+ and disability rep collectionsFans of gothic and alternative world fantasies like A Darker Shade of MagicReaders who loved the timely horror and gore in Hell Followed with Us