Candace, the Universe, and Everything

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A speculative middle grade novel about three generations of Black girls connected across time and space through a wormhole in their school locker.

What if your locker was a wormhole to the past?

On the first day of eighth grade, Candace Wells opens her locker and is astonished when an unusual bird flies out. Soon after, a notebook mysteriously appears on the top shelf, labeled Tracey Auburn, 1988. Stranger still, as Candace reads the notebook, new messages start to appear.

Professor Tracey Auburn only vaguely remembers a bird flying into her locker in eighth grade, way back in 1988, and losing a notebook she could have sworn she put on the top shelf. Until Candace shows up at her office with the…

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$24.99

September 9, 2025

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Sherri L. Smith is not a pilot, but she makes an excellent passenger (unless it’s a very small plane). She is the author of numerous acclaimed fiction and nonfiction books for young people, including Flygirl, the winner of the California Book Awards’ Gold Medal; The Blossom and the Firefly, the winner of the Golden Kite Award from the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators; Orleans; and Who Were the Tuskegee Airmen? She teaches creative writing at Hamline University. Born in Chicago, Sherri now lives in Los Angeles. Learn more at SherriLSmith.com and follow her on Twitter @Sherri_L_Smith.