Crossing Over
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- $9.99
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
Whether it's a curse or a blessing the fact remains: whenever Roger is in enough pain he can cross over to the Land of the Dead and speak to the people there. It's an unexpected gift - and one that, throughout Roger's life, his violent uncle has taken advantage of. Roger has been hauled from fairground to fairground, and beaten into unconsciousness, in order to bring word of the dead to the recently bereaved. It's a hard, painful way of life, deceiving the living for a crust of bread.
So when Roger has the chance of a new life, it seems a gift. He has a chance at safety and at living a life of his choosing, tucked away in the royal court. But life is unexpected, and when Roger falls in love with the bewitching, willful Lady Cecilia he has no idea what he is letting himself in for. With every step he takes towards her, he is drawn deeper into court intrigue, into politics, and even into war ...
... and when Roger's curious abilities come to the Queen's attention, everything changes forever.
Trapped in courtly politics, bound by secrets, Roger is torn between his own safety and that of his friends. He can save them ... but only if he can bring himself to perform a deed so unthinkable that the living and the dead shrink from it alike ...
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Fourteen-year-old Roger has the singular ability to cross over to the Land of the Dead. For years, his evil uncle Hartah has dragged him to fairs where he is beaten until he crosses over pain is the catalyst for Roger's transitions into the other world and returns with information about customers' deceased loved ones. When Hartah dies suddenly during a battle for a ship, Roger is saved by his gift and taken to the Queendom where he works in the laundry and then serves as Queen Caroline's fool. His main challenges enduring his unrequited love for the selfish, spoiled, and silly Lady Cecilia; surviving the warring queens; and finding a way to Soulvine Moor, where his mother died, in hopes of finding her among the dead do not always do their part to drive the plot. Debut author Kendall's prose is at times lackluster, but an atmospheric depiction of her hero's journey and freshly imagined vision of the afterlife should resonate with gothic fantasy fans. Ages 14 up.
