Elena Ferrante Is Releasing A New Book — For Kids

It's not often that a new children's book release gets fully-grown adults camping outside a bookstore to get their hands on a copy, but if J.K. Rowling can do it, I bet Elena Ferrante can do it, too. Yes, you heard that right: Elena Ferrante is releasing a children's book. Time to get my Harry Potter-themed sleeping bag out of storage, because you better believe I'm going to be in that midnight release line.

The mysterious Elena Ferrante captured all our hearts with her four-part Neapolitan Novels series, which has been praised for its complex and honest depiction of womanhood and friendship. Ferrante has also written several stand-alone novels, and this fall, the doll from one of those novels, The Lost Daughter, will become the narrator for a new spin-off: The Beach at Night. How wonderfully eerie does that sound?!

This latest book is aimed at children, so it's bound to mark a slight departure from the (often pretty dark) territory the Neapolitan Novels covered. However, I bet The Beach at Night will be the most wonderfully feminist children's book — and I'm sure Ferrante's brilliant honesty will shine through.

This is the second Ferrante news to have us squealing with excitement lately; the first, of course, is that a Neapolitan Novels TV series is on its way. Eek! More Lila and Elena or a brand new Ferrante book: I don't know which I'm more psyched about!