Cinders and Sparrows
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
A suspenseful tale of witches, family, and magic from internationally bestselling author Stefan Bachmann. When a twelve-year-old orphan unexpectedly becomes the mistress of a seemingly abandoned castle, she is thrust into a mysterious plot involving murderous spells, false identity, and a magical battle of wills between the living and the dead. Readers of Kate Milford's Greenglass House, Victoria Schwab's City of Ghosts, and Diana Wynne Jones will be riveted.
Twelve-year-old Zita, an orphan and a housemaid, has resigned herself to a life of drudgery when a strange letter arrives, naming her the only living heir to the Brydgeborn fortune. Now the mistress of the castle, Zita soon realizes foul play led to the death of her family. And as she is guided through lessons in the art of witchcraft by the somewhat mysterious Mrs. Cantanker, Zita begins to wonder who is friend and who is foe.
Unforgettable and utterly enchanting, this stand-alone tale about family, belonging, and friendship will bewitch readers of Tahereh Mafi’s Whichwood, Katherine Arden’s Small Spaces, and Diana Wynne Jones’s Howl’s Moving Castle. Cinders & Sparrows is a magical page-turner by the author of The Peculiar, the acclaimed international bestseller.
Gothic Fantasy: Explore the overgrown grounds and secret passages of Blackbird Castle, a house with goblin-faced archways, strange magic, and rooms where the windows look out on different worlds.A Reluctant Witch: Twelve-year-old Zita, an orphan housemaid, must trade her cleaning rags for spellbooks when she inherits a magical legacy and is forced into lessons in the art of witchcraft.Family Secrets: The Brydgeborns didn't just disappear—they were murdered. Zita must unravel a mysterious plot to find out why her family was preserved by a deadly spell, and who is behind it all.Found Family: In a castle where she can't trust her mysterious guardian, Mrs. Cantanker, Zita finds unexpected allies in two loyal servants who know more than they let on.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
When an animated scarecrow delivers a letter naming her sole heir to a powerful family's ancient estate, 12-year-old orphan and maid Zita Brydgeborn discovers that witches are real and that she is descended from one of the last great witching families on the continent. Arriving at decaying Blackbird Castle, Zita is greeted by her bitter and disapproving new guardian, Mrs. Cantanker, and two young orphans, Minnifer and Bram, who staff the sprawling, haunted manse. As Zita learns witchcraft under Mrs. Cantanker's harsh tutelage, she, along with Minnifer, Bram, and some of the house's many spirits, searches for a way to reverse the curse that has petrified her family. In a house so full of secrets, however, nothing is what it seems. Through enticing details, Bachmann (A Drop of Night) creates a singular, gothic world in which a long-declining class of psychopompic witches defend against the restless dead. Though uneven pacing and sticky plot points occasionally betray the story's intricately laid (and mislaid) trails, dreadful creatures, an absorbing atmosphere of escalating tension and paranoia, and moments of delightful magic all make for a memorable adventure. Ages 8 12.
