The Boy Who Steals Houses

A raw and compelling Carnegie-nominated contemporary YA novel about found family, from the New York Times bestselling author of Don't Let the Forest In.

He puts his wishes into small metal keys and tucks them in his pocket to keep him breathing.

Sam is only sixteen but he and his autistic older brother, Avery, have been abused and abandoned by everyone they've ever known. Now, they have a wild, hopeless dream of making a home of their own. Until then, Sam survives by breaking into empty houses when their owners are away.

One day he's caught out when a family returns, but, to Sam's amazement, the De Laineys take him in. Inextricably caught up in their cosy, chaotic life, he finds himself falling for Moxie, whose laugh is a burst of stardust.

But Avery doesn't see how he fits into Sam's new life in the butter-yellow house, and Sam has a secret that is about to catch up with him.

Don't miss the brand-new sequels, The Kings of Nowhere and The House for Lost Things, out June 2027.