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A Box of Nothing

A Box of Nothing

by Peter Dickinson

Subject
Fantasy & Magic
Age
9-12 years
Format
Trade Paperback
Pages
160
Publisher
Open Road Media Teen & Tween
Size
13.3 cm × 20.3 cm
ISBN
9781504014977
For one young boy, a box full of nothing is a ticket to adventure

While skipping school, James sees his mother on the street. He ducks inside an abandoned store, where an aged shopkeeper asks what he wants to buy. When James says “nothing,” the old man sells it to him: a heavy cardboard box stuffed full of top-quality nothing. James tries to explain this to his mother, but she doesn’t believe him and throws the box over the fence and into the dump. He sneaks in to retrieve his new possession—and finds himself trapped in another world.

The dump is an eerie place populated by hyperintelligent rats, monstrous seagulls, and a very clever pile of garbage called the Burra. Once it was a thriving community, but something strange has happened, and the dump has become stuck in time. To get back home, James must help the Burra save the dump—using all the nothing he can find.

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What reviewers said

“A dazzling story . . . Subtle, intelligent and, most of all, fun.”
Publishers Weekly
“A stimulating, multi-layered story, fast moving and pleasantly free of long explanations.”
School Library Journal
“One of the real masters of children’s literature.”
Philip Pullman
© 2026 Peekabooks Inc. All Rights Reserved.
© 2026 Peekabooks Inc. All Rights Reserved.