Between Monsters and Marvels
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- $7.99
Publisher Description
A standalone high-stakes middle grade fantasy by Alysa Wishingrad, author of the Junior Library Guild Gold Standard selection The Verdigris Pawn.
Monsters are still lurking on Barrow’s Bay.
Dare Coates is sure of it. No drifter or ruffian could have killed her father, the Captain of the Guard, while he was on patrol. But everyone insists that monsters have been gone for years now. Dare’s mother. Her classmates. Even the governor, who swiftly marries her mother just months after her father’s death.
Dare’s suspicions grow even stronger when the governor suddenly ships her off to the mainland, away from any hope of uncovering the truth about her father’s death.
Or so she thinks. Soon Dare finds solid proof that monsters still exist and she starts to question everything she’s always known. Was her father who she thought he was? Who can she trust? Where is the line between good and evil?
The truth hides behind danger and deception. But with the help of an unlikely crew of cohorts and a stray beastie, nothing can stop Dare from finding out what happened to her father and exposing who the real monsters are.
Perfect for fans of Ellen Oh’s Spirit Hunters and Lauren Oliver’s The Magnificent Monsters of Cedar Street.
One determined girl searching for answers. A dangerous conspiracy that will stop at nothing to protect its secrets.
A Strong Female Protagonist: Dare Coates is no damsel in distress. When the governor tries to send her away, she resolves to uncover the lies surrounding her father's death, no matter the cost.Mystery and Magic: Everyone on Barrow’s Bay insists monsters are a thing of the past. But Dare finds proof they still exist, and that they hold secrets more powerful than she could ever imagine.An Unlikely Animal Companion: With the help of a stray beastie with mysterious abilities, Dare finds a friend she can trust in a world full of deception.A Secret Society: Dare discovers a powerful group of elites built on lies. Exposing them means confronting the governor who married her mother and challenging everything she thought she knew about good and evil.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Wishingrad (The Verdigris Pawn) tackles themes of exploitation, perception, reality, and trust in this high-stakes tale. Everyone on the island of Barrow's Bay is convinced that the monsters that once plagued the community were killed off years ago. But when 11-year-old Dare Coates's father, the Captain of the Guard, is killed, Dare believes it was by monsters, not humans. Not long after, her new stepfather, the island's manipulative governor, sends her to the mainland City-on-the-Pike to stay with her retired actor aunt. The city proves full of mysteries, and Dare soon discovers that the monsters are still very alive. She finds herself caught between two warring factions: those who wish to kill the monsters and those who want to save them. As she works to puzzle out the truth about her father's death, she uncovers information that makes her question everything she knows not only about the creatures, but about her father as well. Bouncy prose builds toward an engaging and optimistic exploration of how power and privilege can be wielded for both good and bad, as observed by one take-charge heroine who seeks to define her place in the world. Main characters read as white. Ages 8–12.
