When the 2011 Japanese earthquake and tsunami hit, a mute, orphaned girl was on her way to live with an uncle, and a young woman was fleeing an abusive marriage. In the shelter where they meet, an old woman with magical gifts orchestrates their move to a home outside the town of Kitsunezaki. There the girl, newly called Hyori; the young woman, now going by Yui; and the old woman, Obachan, become a family. Although Hyori remains mute, she loves the routines they establish and her life with Yui Mama and Obachan; she even makes a good friend in town. But when Obachan realizes that the tsunami freed an evil being that was imprisoned in an underwater cave generations ago, they set off on an extraordinary road trip so she can arrange protection from various spirits. The town has lost so much, however—people who died and those who left in the aftermath of the tsunami—and Obachan knows that it will take hope as well as help to defeat the dark force. This emotionally authentic tale of trauma and healing is a skilled blend of realism and fantasy, with three immensely likable main human characters and a host of intriguing magical spirits (most of them kind, some also funny). Hyori’s and Yui’s back stories make their growing confidence and agency one of many things to celebrate in this imaginative and satisfying tale. (Ages 8-12)

A 2024 Mildred L. Batchelder Award Honoree

A 2024 USBBY Outstanding International Book

One of Kirkus Reviews' 10 Essential Middle-Grade Books for Fall 2023 -- Starred Review

One of Kirkus Reviews' Best Middle-Grade Family Stories of 2023

A 2023 Cybils Awards Finalist for Speculative Middle Grade Fiction

From the author and translator of the Batchelder Award-winning novel Temple Alley Summer comes the moving story of three generations of women adapting to their new home, and its mythical inhabitants, in the tragic aftermath of the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake disaster.

In the wake of a devastating earthquake and tsunami, Yui, fleeing her violent husband, and Hiyori, a young orphan, are taken in by a strange but kind old lady named Kiwa in the small town of Kitsunezaki​​. The newly formed family finds refuge in a mayoiga, a lost house, perched atop a beautiful cape overlooking the sea. While helping to rebuild Kitsunezaki, the three adapt to their new lives and supernatural new home, slowly healing from their troubled pasts. Kiwa regales Yui and Hiyori with local legends--from the shapeshifting fox-woman who used to roam the mountains, to the demon Agamé and a sea snake who once terrorized the townspeople, preying upon their grief and fears until they trapped the snake and the demon's claws in an underwater cave.

But when mysterious and sinister events start happening around town, the three fear the worst. Did the earthquake release Agamé and the sea snake into the world again? Kiwa, Yui, and Hiyori join forces with a merry band of kappa river spirits, a bold zashiki warashi house spirit, and flying Jizō guardian statues to save their new family and home and banish Agamé and the snake once and for all. Now a hit anime film, The House of the Lost on the Cape is a heartwarming tale about the strength of family and friendship in the face of natural and mythical forces.