THEY SET THE FIRE

The teddies discover the answers to their greatest mysteries in this trilogy finale.

Picking up where They Stole Our Hearts (2021) left off, the remaining teddies—Sunny, Reginald, Nothing, and their committed leader, Buddy—have found Proto, the first Furrington Teddy made by the Creator. Once again, the teddies set off on a mission, this time to the courthouse to find the Suit who made them dangerous to children. And once again, their plans take them in unexpected directions as they don armor to attend a community protest against the Suit and help a human kid with scars of his own find his place in the world. In this volume, which is less adventurous than the first two, Kraus brings the story full circle, revealing the answer to the question that kicked off the saga—why the teddies were thrown away—and remembering the stalwart teddy pals lost along the way while finding redemption amid loss. As Buddy continues to grapple with friendship, anger, death, and being a leader, the end of his existential journey is really a new beginning in growing up. Young readers, too, will leave the saga changed, recognizing, through Buddy, the ups and downs of life and their own burgeoning independence. Final art not seen.

A fitting, heartfelt conclusion to this thought-provoking, nuanced fantasy series.