Plum was all set to increase her magical cooking skills, but that was before her little sister dressed up as a boy and joined the army—a crime punishable by death. To protect her family, Plum assumes her sister's identity and reports for her duties scrubbing dishes at the palace.

But lying for Dami leaves Plum tangled up in royal intrigue and nefarious plots. Palaces are difficult to navigate—and that's doubly true when you have a secret to keep. 

Thirteen-year-old Ana lives on The Platinum Phoenix, a run-down mining colony carved out of a massive asteroid. When the mining robots break, panic follows. Without them, the colony can't extract the ice they depend on for water. The mine shafts were designed for slender robots—adults can't fit through them to make repairs by hand. But Ana can.

To save her colony and her family, Ana suits up and heads deep into the dangerous vacuum of the mines, hoping to make the repairs that will keep everyone she loves alive.

There's also a short story entitled "Ana's Asteroid", which more-or-less covers the first several chapters. It's available online for free in both print and audio at Cast of Wonders.

Tenjat lives on the shores of Hell, an ocean filled with ravenous naga monsters. His island, a massive Turtle, is slowed by the people living on its back. Tenjat is poor as poor gets: poor enough, even, to condescend to the shame of marriage, so his children can help support him one day.

But Tenjat has a plan to avoid this fate. He will join the Handlers, those who defend and rule the island. Handlers never marry, and they can even provide for an additional family member. Against his sister’s wishes, Tenjat joins the Handlers. And just in time: the Handlers are ramping up for a dangerous battle against the naga monsters, and they need every fighter they can get.

As the naga battle approaches, Tenjat’s training intensifies, but a long-hidden family secret—not to mention his own growing feelings for Avi—put his plans in jeopardy, and might threaten the very survival of his island.

Delve into forbidden jungles, travel across flesh-eating oceans, and chow down on some cryonic sushi in these nine fantasy and science fiction tales from M.K. Hutchins. Originally appearing in Orson Scott Card's InterGalactic Medicine Show, Daily Science Fiction, and elsewhere, these stories are collected here for the first time.