Once Upon Tomorrow

Three girls. Three fates. Three interwoven stories. Spanning a hundred years from the present to the future, three girls on the cusp of life search for truth and connection amid family dysfunction, climate change and the march of new technology in this exquisite verse novel from the award-winning author of Grace Notes.

Miri, an eighteen-year-old hopeful Jungian student, discovers she's pregnant in 2025.

Aleita, sixteen, shelters in the library, the one place free of jolts to her digital implant in 2125.

Interwoven between them stands Sylvie, spinning tapestries to save her life and the kingdom. Sylvie exists in the pages of a mysterious fairytale titled The Girl at the Threshold.

Miri, Aleita and Sylvie each need to make a choice in their search for the truth. All three are connected through time by heartbreak, a desperate need to save the environment and a search for family and community.

An expansive verse novel about the parallel journeys of three extraordinary girls carving out their own histories - and each other's.

'Once Upon Tomorrow is an ambitious but captivating novel that explores the bonds of women and craft, technology activism, climate change and psychology, and it will appeal to readers who enjoy verse novels, literature, fairytales, handcrafts and authors such as Cath Crowley and Pip Harry' Books+Publishing

'Comer weaves an ambitious, luminous feminist fable about what matters most - family, agency, creativity and hope' PIP HARRY

'A fiercely intelligent, profound and groundbreaking work, Once Upon Tomorrow takes the YA verse novel form into territory few authors have explored, achieving poetic and narrative brilliance in the process. Karen Comer is undoubtedly one of our finest contemporary writers' ROBBIE COBURN

Praise for Karen Comer's award-winning debut, Grace Notes:

'Perfect for any young reader who's ever felt left on the outside.' Books+Publishing

'A masterful debut!' Lorraine Marwood

'This beautiful story strikes the perfect tone.' Nicole Hayes

'A classic in the making.' Danielle Binks

About the Author

Karen Comer is a freelance editor and presents writing workshops to children and adults. Earlier in her career, she worked in educational publishing and was the editor for children's art magazine BIG. She lives in Melbourne.

Karen's debut novel, Grace Notes, published in 2023, was awarded the 2024 CBCA Book of the Year for Older Readers, was shortlisted for the Ethel Turner Prize for Young People's Literature, shortlisted for the 2024 UTS Glenda Adams Award for New Writing and is shortlisted for the 2024 Prime Minister's Literary Award for Young Adult Literature.