Neal Shusterman - Everfound (The Skinjacker Trilogy)

Also by Neal Shusterman

Novels
Antsy Does Time
Bruiser
The Dark Side of Nowhere
Dissidents
Downsiders
The Eyes of Kid Midas
Full Tilt
The Schwa Was Here
The Shadow Club
The Shadow Club Rising
Speeding Bullet
Unwind
What Daddy Did

The Skinjacker Trilogy
Everlost
Everwild

The Dark Fusion Series
Dreadlocks
Red Riders Hood
Duckling Ugly

Story Collections
Darkness Creeping
MindQuakes
MindStorms

Visit the author at storyman.com and on Facebook.

An imprint of Simon & Schuster Childrens Publishing Division 1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, New York 10020
www.SimonandSchuster.com

This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real locales are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the authors imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

Copyright 2011 by Neal Shusterman

All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form.

is a trademark of Simon & Schuster, Inc.

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The text for this book is set in Cochin.

Manufactured in the United States of America

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Shusterman, Neal.

Everfound / Neal Shusterman.1st ed.

p. cm.(Skinjacker trilogy ; bk. 3)

Summary: In the limbo that is Everlost, Mary, Nick, Allie, and others face the decisions that will determine whether that place and the Earth itself will continue to exist, as well as where their own futures lie.

ISBN 978-1-4169-9049-9 (hardcover : alk. paper)

ISBN 978-1-4424-2384-8 (eBook)

[1. Future lifeFiction. 2. DeadFiction.] I. Title.

PZ7.S55987Euf 2011

[Fic]dc22

2010029018

To my elementary school librarian,
who took me under her wing,
and turned me into a reader.
Thanks, Mrs. Shapiro,
wherever you are!

Acknowledgments

Everfound , and the entire Skinjacker Trilogy, has been a fantastic journey to write, and there were many people who made thate journey possible. First and foremost, Id like to thank my editor, David Gale, as well as Justin Chanda, Navah Wolfe, Paul Crichton, and everyone at Simon & Schuster for believing in these books. Thanks to my parents for always being there for me, and to my children, Brendan, Jarrod, Erinand especially Joelle, who read my early draft of Everfound , and gave me great editorial notes.

Thanks to Chris Goethals for being amazingly supportive, through Everfound s birth pangs and a constant source of light. My deepest gratitude to my assistant, Wendy Doyle, who worked tirelessly doing everything from transcribing my incoherent ramblings to finding Russian and Swahili translations (even though I ended up never using the Swahili). And while Im on the subject of translation, thanks to Gabriela Hebin, for correcting my questionable Spanish.

Thanks to Andrea Brown, Trevor Engelson, Nick Osborne, Shep Rosenman, Lee Rosenbaum, and Danny Greenberg, who keep my career from sinking to the center of the earth. Also a heartfelt thank you to Naketha Mattocks, Allison Thomas, Gary Ross, and Jeff Kirschenbaum for having the vision to see these books as films, and the passion to make it happen someday.

Id like to thank Daniel J. Grossman for his airship website (airships.net), which has amazing information on the Hindenburg .

Thanks to Brody Kelley, Amber Loranger, Alex Easton, and all my other Facebook fans and Twitter followers for spreading the word about these books.

And thanks to that kid who asked, What happens to a skinjacker who gets unwound? Thats the way to keep an author on his toes!

If youve just woken up to find yourself in Everlost, you might be scared and confused. Dont worry, everythings going to be okay. Sort of. They call me Allie the Outcast, and Ive put together a list of frequently asked questions for new arrivals. Its a pretty good idea to read them, even if youve been in Everlost for a while, because in Everlost its so easy to forget....

What is Everlost?

Everlost is a world in between life and death. If youre stuck here, then it means you didnt quite make it to the light. Of course, we can still see the living world, all around us, but we cant be a part of it.

Why cant I touch anything or talk to people? Why is the world around me so blurry and faded?

Youre dead. Get over it. Youre a spirit, or Afterlight. Were called Afterlights because we give off a faint glowwhich makes it easy to see things in the dark. Were like our own flashlights. We call newly awoken Afterlights Greensouls.

It was winter when I crossed into Everlost, but now its fall. Why is that?

All Afterlights sleep for nine months when they cross over. Thats how long it takes to be born into Everlost. We call spirits that havent yet woken up Interlights.

Why do I sink into the ground if I stand still?

Youre a spirit, and spirits can walk through wallsand the floor is basically just a wall beneath your feel. We sink faster through wood floors than through concrete, dirt, or stone. Its best to stay out of living-world buildings, or you might find yourself sinking to the center of the Earth.

If Im a ghost, how come some places are solid for me?

Those are called deadspots. Places that no longer exist, but were loved, or important in some fundamental way, cross over into Everlost. Spots where people died cross into Everlost as well, and so do beloved objects.

Whats this weird coin in my pocket?

Dont lose your coin, and dont let anyone take it away from you! That coin will get you where youre going, when youre truly ready to go.

Uh... where was I going?

I wish I knew, but no one in Everlost can see into the light at the end of the tunnel, so no one knows whats there. Maybe its whatever you believe is there... or maybe not.

How long will I be in Everlost?

That depends. If youre ready to go, and you still have your coin, it might not be long. But if you lose your coin, or you choose to stay, you could be here for quite a while.