Rapacia — Dale E. Basye

WHEN HER BROTHER, Milton, escapes the otherworldly reform school, Heck, in a soul balloon made of old clothes, Mario is the only Fauster child left to take the blame. Bea "Elsa" Bubb, the Principal of Darkness, sends her straight to Rapacia, the circle where greedy kids are tormented by glimpses of , a just-out-of-reach, glittering shoppers' paradise called Mallvana. Mario soon falls under the sway of Rapacia's vice principal, a grinning metal rabbit known as the Grabbit that seems to have plans of its own. Mario is torn between wanting to find a way out and wanting to do . . . whatever the Grabbit asks her to do.

Meanwhile, back on the Surface, Milton has his own problems. He is determined to get in touch with Mario and help her find a way out of Heck. But it's hard to concentrate when his body and soul don't seem to hold together the way they used to. Will Milton ever reach Mario? And if he does, will they both end up as pawns in the Grabbit's mysterious game?