The Thief Who Sang Storms

This gorgeous fantasy is set on an island nation called Morovia, which is inhabited by humans and a race known as alkonosts, who have feathers instead of hair and have the ability to sing ‘magic’.  For generations they had lived in peace and unity, but on a fateful day, three years prior to this story, there was a tremendous storm and the human and alkonosts queens and all of their followers were lost on a ship.  Since then, all magic has been banned and the bird people are treated as second class.  Linnet is an alkonost and lost her mother on that day, so now she and her father have to scavenge a living and even steal trinkets to buy food and then her father is imprisoned for stealing and life changes. Will Linnet be able to save her father, bring the communities together and rebuild old friendships?

A totally magical and inspiring story from the author of The House with Chicken Legs; I don’t think I am really giving a spoiler when I say that Baba and the house make a fleeting guest appearance, in a very special way.  This more than meets the standard that we have grown to expect and this is going to become yet another classic. It is a wonderfully created world full of adventure, excitement and magic.  However, at the heart of this story we have the deep bonds that link families and communities, as well as those that we create as we grow and make friends.  Importantly, this is also about understanding those who are different and not assuming that all groups share the same traits.  We have to realize that there are good and bad in all areas of society and the world and we should never judge others without knowing them; this feels like a very important message at this moment in history.  This really deserves its five-star rating.