The Secret Staircase

Nominated for the Finlandia Prize 2024 in Children's & Youth Literature!

What would you do if you found a secret room in your house? A story about friendship and two boys in two worlds.

✓ Grounded fantasy with a classic feel for fans of Michael Ende and Maria Gripe

✓ Salla Simukka is the recipient of the Topelius Prize 2013 and Finland Prize 2013 and has been nominated for the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award every year since 2021. Her Snow White trilogy was sold into 52 territories

✓ JP Ahonen is a comic book artist and illustrator whose unique Belzebubs project has achieved cult status internationally

An exciting and touching novel about two boys, who live in the same house but in different realities. Can their friendship cross the border separating two worlds?

10-year-old Alexis’ family moves to a house where he gets the attic room. Another 10-year-old-boy, Max, moves to a house, where a great basement room is waiting for him. Soon the boys notice something weird in their houses: Alexis hears voices under the floor, even though they don’t have a basement. Max’s ears pick up someone playing an instrument from the attic, even though no one is there.

When the two boys finally meet, they realize that they can visit each other’s worlds at night time. But will their friendship endanger everything when the worlds start to blur into each other?