Bio

E.G. Young (she/her) is a speculative fiction author living on the Gulf Coast of Florida. In her books, you’ll find weird-but-tender vibes, strange girls, dark humor, spookiness, and animals who all live at the end (promise!). She writes 90 percent of her drafts using voice-to-text dictation (shoutout to fellow hypermobile humans). E.G. holds an MFA in Writing for Children & Young Adults from The Vermont College of Fine Arts and is represented by Linda Camacho at Gallt & Zacker Literary Agency.

Book Information

• A (Dead) Thing Like Me

• 352 pages

• Genre: YA paranormal fantasy/horror

• Publisher: Holiday House (U.S.) and Walker Books (U.K.)

• Release Date: August 18, 2026 (U.S.) and August 13, 2026 (U.K.)

• ISBN (U.S.): 9780823461066

• ISBN (U.K.): 9781529536409

• Age Range: 14 and up

• Grade: 9 & Up

Audiobook Information

• Produced by Dreamscape Media

• Release date August 18, 2026

• Narrator Amy McFadden

Book Description

One hot dog with banana peppers. That’s all Hot Dog wants. An invisible teenage ghost, she haunts a food cart outside the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Until one night, she’s accidentally summoned via Ouija board to a house party in Florida . . . where finally finally finally, people can see her.

All the party guests scatter, except for Logan: the cool artist girl who doesn’t just see Hot Dog, she actually wants to talk to her. Logan, who isn’t scared of Hot Dog’s stitched mouth or chattering dress. Logan, who’s grieving her own dead BFF—and called Hot Dog by mistake.

Hot Dog wants to prove it’s not a mistake. 

She can be Logan’s new best friend. She can go to Logan’s Halloween party. She can eat snacks, have sleepovers, and hang out. She can definitely smile without scaring people. Exactly like a real, human girl. 

There’s one problem: Hog Dog’s not a real, living human girl, and something in Logan’s sprawling house knows it. It scratches like rats in the walls. It opens a secret door in Logan’s attic. It wants to drag Hot Dog into the nothingness where dead things go. And unless Hot Dog can confront the dark truth of how she died, it will unmake Logan too. 

Comp Titles

• The Honeys by Ryan La Sala

• House of Hollow by Krystal Sutherland

• My Dearest Darkest by Kayla Cottingham

• The Taking of Jake Livingston by Ryan Douglass

• Pick the Lock by A.S. King

Reviews

“This spectacular story straddles a surreal, almost mystical, line before dropping readers into the terrifying challenges of facing the ghost-eaters that can rip people’s souls from their bodies. The throughline anchoring this highly original narrative is the fierce power of love. A gorgeously creative debut, weaving life, grief, and the spirit of friendship into a tour-de-force.” —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

“Hot Dog is an unlikely and sympathetic protagonist in this quirky paranormal story that deals with friendship, trauma, and finding your own voice. The voice of Hot Dog is haunting and longing, and readers will enjoy the structure of the book, as well as how the author plays with language and genre.” —School Library Journal

“Sensory and strange, Young’s surreal debut wafts through planes of existence and consciousness, following Hot Dog’s evolving understanding of herself and her relationship to the living world. . . . Hot Dog is serving love and weirdness in a way that will have A. S. King fans lining up.” —Booklist

“Clever humor … makes for an engaging read, and the protagonist—dubbed Hot Dog by Logan once that obsession becomes evident—with her palpable yearning for all aspects of being alive is easy to root for …. Versions of the afterlife abound in recent YA novels; this weird, inventive entry offers plenty to relish.” —The Horn Book