I, Alcatraz Smedry, proudly announce the last book of my autobiography, and was the hardest one for me to write. Because, in it—I’m not a hero. In fact, I’m the one who screwed everything up for everyone else.

First off, my Talent for breaking things got a little out of hand, and I ended up destroying everyone else’s Talents. As in “anyone who was born with a Talent no longer has a Talent and might never get their Talent back”—and all because of a Talent of mine which I no longer have. Got it?

Even worse, my best friend Bastille (she’s a girl, and a friend, but not really my girlfriend…I think?) was put in a coma by those Librarian slugs. So I owed them one for that.

And worse than worse, I needed to enter the heart of Librarian power—the dreaded Highbrary—if I was ever going to bring Bastille back to life and stop my know-it-all hotshot renegade father from unleashing chaos all over the world just because he thinks it’s the right thing to do.