In 1426, Min-Hwani has returned to Nowon Village, on the island of Joseon, to reunite with her younger sister, Min-Maewol, and search for their father, a detective who went missing while investigating the disappearance of girls from the village. The two sisters remember their father differently: He’s always been like a shining light for Min-Hwani, while Min-Maewol feels he abandoned her when she was left behind as apprentice to the village shaman and he and Min-Hwani moved to the mainland. Before the separation, the sisters shared a traumatic experience neither fully remembers; both were found unconscious in the forest near the body of a young woman who died. Min-Hwani remembers nothing except a white-masked figure; now she’s certain that figure is related to the disappearance of both the village girls and her father. Although they are odds over some things, including whether Shaman Nokyung, the old woman training Min-Maewol, might have something to do with the disappearances, the sisters work together to try to unravel the mysteries, gradually discovering the disappearances are connected to the practice of giving girls to Emperor Ming of a China as a way to smooth relations. Power and politics both play a role in this mystery set in 15 ^th -century Korea, but family is at its heart, with two sisters trying to reconcile conflicting feelings about their father and the past. Vivid characters, time period and sense of place all enrich the telling. (Age 12 and older)

Suspenseful and richly atmospheric, June Hur's The Forest of Stolen Girls is a haunting historical mystery sure to keep readers guessing until the last page.

1426, Joseon (Korea). Hwani's family has never been the same since she and her younger sister went missing and were later found unconscious in the forest near a gruesome crime scene.

Years later, Detective Min—Hwani's father—learns that thirteen girls have recently disappeared from the same forest that nearly stole his daughters. He travels to their hometown on the island of Jeju to investigate... only to vanish as well.

Determined to find her father and solve the case that tore their family apart, Hwani returns home to pick up the trail. As she digs into the secrets of the small village—and collides with her now estranged sister, Maewol—Hwani comes to realize that the answer could lie within her own buried memories of what happened in the forest all those years ago.

Praise for The Forest of Stolen Girls:

A Junior Library Guild Selection
A 2022 Edgar Allan Poe Award Nominee
A YALSA Best Fiction for Young Adults Selection
A 2022 White Pine Award Nominee
A 2022 ALA Rise Selection
A 2022 CCBC Choices Selection

"The Forest of Stolen Girls is a haunting, breathtaking tale that will have readers on the edge of their seats. ... Hur is an absolute master of mystery, and I will be reading her gorgeous books for years to come." —Adalyn Grace, New York Times-bestselling author of All the Stars and Teeth

"Rich, exquisite, and deeply atmospheric, The Forest of Stolen Girls draws the reader in from the very first page and doesn't let go. A dark and utterly engrossing mystery, beautifully drawn from start to finish." —Kathleen Glasgow, New York Times-bestselling author of Girl in Pieces

"Haunting and lyrical. Beware, this tale will draw you deeper into the forest than you want to go." —Stacey Lee, award-winning author of The Downstairs Girl

"A brilliant historical fiction mystery that is suspenseful, gorgeous and absolutely riveting! Hur brings Jeju Island during the early Joseon period completely to life in a rich, evocative manner that reminds me of watching my favorite historical Kdrama.” —Ellen Oh, author of the Prophecy series