Kirkus Starred Review
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Publisher’s Weekly Starred Review
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A Kirkus Best Middlegrade of 2023
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A Chicago Public Library Best Middlegrade of 2023
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Kirkus Starred Review 〰️ Publisher’s Weekly Starred Review 〰️ A Kirkus Best Middlegrade of 2023 〰️ A Chicago Public Library Best Middlegrade of 2023 〰️
From New York Times bestselling YA author Rebecca Mix comes the first book in a breathtaking middle grade fantasy duology about a young fairy who has always lived in her heroic grandmother’s shadow but now must step up and embark on a quest to save her mother from the ever-creeping mold overtaking their world.
The mold takes all.
Twelve-year-old fairy Canary Mossheart knows this better than most. A few years ago, the mold took her papa, and even her famous, former-chosen-one Gran never found a cure. So when Ary's beloved mama falls ill, Ary decides it’s taken enough. Armed with only a bucket and a prayer, she sneaks out to find a magical, underground lake whose healing waters are straight out of Gran’s adventures.
But when Ary gets there, the lake’s bone dry, and instead of healing waters, she finds a terrifying secret: Her entire world is actually trapped inside a giant terrarium—one they were meant to leave centuries ago. Worse, Gran knew and hid the truth, dooming Ary and her generation to a dying, rotting world.
Now, allied with only her doomsday-obsessed frenemy, a timid pill bug, and a particularly grumpy newt, Ary has one week to unravel the clues and find a way out of the terrarium—or they’ll be trapped for good.
Perfect for readers who loved Brandon Mull's Fablehaven, The City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau, and Endling: The Last by Katherine Applegate.
The Mossheart’s Promise
The second and final book in a stunning middle grade fantasy duology about a young fairy who has always lived in her heroic grandmother’s shadow but now must step up and embark on a quest to save her world—from New York Times bestselling YA author Rebecca Mix.
Something rots within the wood…
Ary Mossheart has done the impossible: The terrarium is shattered, and her people are free. When the folk of Terra are welcomed in by the fairies of Siltshore, an abundant treetop village filled with light, food, and peace, Ary promises herself that her days of saving people are over. It’s time to be normal. Live the life her gran would have wanted; the one she never got back in Terra.
But when fairies begin to disappear one by one and it becomes clear that Siltshore is not as safe as it seems, Ary Owl, and Briar will be pulled down dangerous paths as they try to unravel the strange magics of their new world—and the truth about the one they left behind. To save her new home, Ary will have to step into the role of hero once more.
Except this time, if she fails, there will be no new world to escape to.
The Ghostwing’s Lie
Praise & Reviews
★“Mix’s straightforward, magic-laced writing doesn’t shy away from hard but age-appropriately addressed truths of poverty, privilege, and natural disasters… A wonderful story for all the scared people doing the right thing because nobody else will.”
★ “Boasting rich, confident worldbuilding and complex interspecies relations in a starkly rendered setting, this stirring middle grade debut from Mix (The Ones We Burn) passionately explores the courage it takes to lead with empathy and to become a hero in the face of older generations’ failures.”
"In this immersive middle grade fantasy debut, Rebecca Mix crafts a larger-than-life cast of ordinary heroes who grasp hope in the unlikeliest of times and places. A thought-provoking and unflinching reckoning of what it means to be the 'Chosen One' in a thankless, dying world -- where yet, still, love burns bright."
—Katie Zhao, author of the Winnie Zeng series and The Dragon Warrior duology
“A tender, touching, and thrilling exploration of how we can save the future by challenging the past.”
—Sofiya Pasternack, Sydney Taylor Honor Award-Winning author of Black Bird, Blue Road
