Up-and-Under Books in Order

The Up-and-Under books, published as A. Deborah Baker, are portal fantasies with the shape of old children's classics and the slightly sharper edge you would expect from Seanan McGuire. They follow Avery and Zib, two children who could not be more different, after they climb over a wall and into an impossible country full of talking trees, dangerous royalty, peculiar companions, and roads that do not care whether anyone is ready for them.

The setup is familiar on purpose.

What makes the series work is the balance between whimsy and unease. The Up-and-Under has pirates, impossible seas, crowns, creatures, and clever language, but it is not a safe dreamland. Choices have consequences. Hospitality can become debt in a heartbeat. People get lost. Friendship has to be built, not assumed. Avery and Zib do not arrive as an instant team, which gives the books a steady emotional core as they learn how to trust each other.

The voice matters a lot here. These books are written to feel like rediscovered classics, the sort of stories people might have sworn they half remembered from childhood. That does not make them slight. It makes them sly. McGuire knows exactly how portal fantasy works, and she enjoys both honoring and nudging the tradition.

There is a longer shadow behind it too.

Because The Up-and-Under exists inside the Alchemical Journeys universe, these books can be read as straight portal adventures or as part of a larger game about stories, reality, and inherited damage. They still stand perfectly well on their own.

So this page is best for readers who want the door-opening wonder of classic children's fantasy with a little more bite and a little more emotional precision. Start with Over the Woodward Wall and keep going. The road only gets stranger from there.