The Tiltersmith
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- $15.99
Publisher Description
In this "thrilling coming-of-age fantasy" (Buffalo News), myths and monsters collide with climate chaos in a battle for Earth's future.
Spring has arrived in Brooklyn, New York, but winter refuses to let go. Sleet, snow, and even a tornado batter the city. Mr. Ross, the science teacher, believes climate change is the cause, but classmates Edward, Feenix, Danton, and Brigit suspect older, magical forces are at work. When a peculiar character calling himself Superintendent Tiltersmith appears with a keen interest in the foursome, their suspicions are confirmed, and they’re swept up in a battle of wits and courage.
The friends must protect a set of mysterious tools belonging to the Lady of Spring. If they can free her from her underground prison, winter will end. But if the Tiltersmith steals the tools, he will keep the Lady in his power and upset the balance of nature forever.
Perfect for readers of Madeleine L’Engle and Susan Cooper, The Tiltersmith returns to the world of Amy Herrick’s acclaimed Time Fetch in a timely, exciting stand-alone adventure.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In this ecologically oriented standalone fantasy set in the same world as The Time Fetch, Herrick transfers her protagonists' focus from the collapse of time and space to the threat of climate change. When nature gets out of hand around the vernal equinox—winter refuses to give way to spring, a tornado threatens Brooklyn residents—it's up to four middle schoolers plagued by memory lapses and capricious entities to set things right. Soft-spoken but observant Brigit, who is Black; aspiring baker Danton and science-minded Edward, both white; and artist Feenix, cued by surname as of Latinx descent individually and collectively encounter mysterious green-haired Jack, who enlists them in his search for a missing Lady whom, he claims, is essential for spring's arrival. While their science teacher is certain that global warming is to blame for the ongoing cold, the arrival of Jack, plus manipulative, tiny-footed school superintendent Tiltersmith, leads the quartet to suspect the cause may be rooted in the supernatural. Herrick combines vivid descriptions of climate events, school-set science lessons, and weather-related stories from various cultures around the globe in a meandering novel that both resonates with current events and fits tonally alongside children's fantasy classics. Ages 8–12.
