A whimsical, adventure-filled mystery about a young orphan at the edge of society who finds herself at the center of a city's secrets. For fans of The Swifts and A Series of Unfortunate Events . " I was hooked from the beginning … Move over Lemony Snicket!" —Karen Foxlee, award-winning author of Lenny’s Book of Everything A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: New York Public Library, Chicago Public Library, NPR, Kirkus Reviews Maggie Fishbone is not expecting much when she’s sent to the Midwatch Institute for Orphans, Runaways, and Wayward Girls—the last resort after causing a ruckus at the orphanage where she was living. Except . . . the Institute isn’t some dreadful, dreary place like she thought. Instead it’s full of curious girls training to solve mysteries, fight bad guys, and keep the city safe. In between fencing lessons and discovering all the shortcuts in the building, Maggie finds herself making friends at the Midwatch and finally feeling like she’s home. And when a woman goes missing, Maggie’s off on her first assignment, with each step leading her deeper into the secrets of the city. With gorgeous black-and-white illustrations and pages of “Useful Things Every Girl Should Know” (like how send messages in morse code and how to shout extremely loudly), The Midwatch is a whimsical, adventure-filled mystery from internationally bestselling author-illustrator Judith Rossell. ★ "Cinematic, amusing, and exciting: a slightly subversive, delightfully empowering, all-around winner." — Kirkus , starred review ★ "[A] subversive and captivating examination of adventure, lifelong learning, and sisterhood." — Publishers Weekly , starred review ★ "A spy fan's dream... Jeepers, it's a thrill!" —Booklist, starred review ★ “[A] joyful world of nonstop suspense that manages to be a mashup of Charles Dickens and Roald Dahl…a zany romp, filled with humor, attitude, kindness and edge-of-your seat adventure.” – BookPage , starred review ★ “This entertaining romp has some surprises in store…a pleasure on many fronts.” – The Horn Book Magazine, starred review "Gasp-out-loud brilliant! An absolute treasure of a book." —Katrina Nannestad, bestselling author of We Are Wolves " I was hooked from the beginning… Move over Lemony Snicket!" —Karen Foxlee, award-winning author of Lenny’s Book of Everything "Welcome all treasure-hunters and mystery-solvers to the Midwatch Institute … [where] disobedient girls are not to be underestimated!" —Amelia Mellor, award-winning author of The Grandest Bookshop in the World "A cracking concept, sensational characters and absolutely smashing pictures: The Midwatch is the cat’s pyjamas!" —Jaclyn Moriarty, award-winning author of the Kingdoms and Empires series Judith Rossell is the multi-award-winning author-illustrator of the bestselling Stella Montgomery series ( Withering-by-Sea , Wormwood Mire and Wakestone Hall ). Judith has written fifteen books and illustrated more than eighty, including the recent picture books Bogtrotter and Pink!, both written by Margaret Wild. Her work has been published in the US and UK, and translated into more than twenty languages. Before becoming an illustrator, Judith trained as a scientist, and worked for CSIRO, and for a cotton-spinning company. She lives in Melbourne. Chapter One It was late afternoon when the little steamer from Mud Harbor reached the city, and the sun was sinking behind low, gray clouds. Maggie Fishbone was dizzy and seasick and so nervous, she felt like she had swallowed an eel. She gripped her suitcase, stumbled off the gangplank, and followed Sister Immaculata through the docks and out into the street. The noise was deafening. Motorcars and trucks trundled past and trains clanked on iron bridges overhead. Clouds of steam hissed from gratings in the sidewalk. The air smelled of smoke, garbage, and a bunch of other things Maggie did not recognize. And there were people everywhere. A group of young men staggered by; one was playing a bugle and the others were singing in a foreign language. A woman bustled past with a huge purple cabbage in a basket. A man stood beside a baker’s cart, yelling about hot pies and pretzels. Back in the orphanage in Mud Harbor, Maggie had heard stories about the city. The fish heads for the orphans’ supper came wrapped in newspapers, and the orphans read the newspapers and whispered about them at night in the dormitory. The city was stuffed full of wickedness, everyone knew that. Huge alligators lived in the sewers. Shadowy, hulking monsters lurched through the streets at night. Bakers stole children, chopped them up, and made them into pies. Maggie didn’t believe the stories. Not really. But all the same, she frowned suspiciously at the pies on the baker’s cart. Sister Immaculata’s black habit fluttered and her mouth was set in a determined line as she strode through the crowd. She checked the time and asked for directions, then they boarded a streetcar and found