The Spindle of Fate by Aimee Lim

The Spindle of Fate

Aimee Lim

Square Fish · Paperback · July 8, 2025

When Evie Mei discovers that her recently passed mother was the head of a guild of magical weavers, she enters the Chinese netherworld to try and bring her back in this middle-grade debut.

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Who it’s for
A brisk fairy-tale register with a playful edge and a serious pulse.
Genres
Asian Myths & Legends, Magic & Fantasy, Paranormal
Published
Square Fish, July 8, 2025

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About this book

When Evie Mei discovers that her recently passed mother was the head of a guild of magical weavers, she enters the Chinese netherworld to try and bring her back in this middle-grade debut. AN EDGAR AWARD NOMINEE Twelve-year-old Evie Mei Huang never did like helping in her mom’s tailor shop. She hated helping to mend fraying clothes, how the measuring tape got all twisted up, and how pushy her mother’s clients were.

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Most of all, she hates that her mother is dead and isn’t here to help anymore. But when the universe sends a life preserver, Evie knows to grab it. So yes, it’s weird when a talking monkey shows up and tells her that her plainspoken, hardworking tailor mother was actually the head of a Guild of magical weavers who can change the fate of a person with only a spool of thread. Very weird. But he also comes bearing news that her mother is trapped in Diyu, the Chinese underworld, and that only Evie can get her back. No pressure. The important thing is that Evie’s mom isn’t dead. And if she’s got this one shot to bring her back and save her family, she’s got to take it. Inspired by Chinese mythology, Aimee Lim’s debut middle grade peers into the dark and gritty underworld, while showcasing the unbreakable bond between a family and the lengths we’ll go to save them.

Mythic Spark

A brisk fairy-tale register with a playful edge and a serious pulse.

Come here for

  • playful, serious-leaning fairy-tale energy
  • family and death in a brisk mythic frame

Expect

  • action and adventure
  • a compact, fable-like mood

Where it sits

Asian Myths & Legends78%
Magic & Fantasy46%
Paranormal43%

Percentages are BookFrontier’s reading of the book.

Publisher categories

  • Action & Adventure
  • Asian Myths & Legends
  • Loss & Grief
Authors
Aimee Lim
Publisher
Square Fish
Published
July 8, 2025
Format
Paperback
Reading lane
Action & Adventure