A contemporary fantasy YA debut from Rochelle Hassan about monsters, magic, and wicked fae, perfect for fans of The Darkest Part of the Forest and The Hazel Wood

As the only hedgewitch in Blackthorn, Massachusetts–an uncommonly magical place–Aziza El-Amin has bargained with wood nymphs, rescued palm-sized fairies from house cats, banished flesh-eating shadows from the local park. But when a dark entity awakens in the forest outside of town, eroding the invisible boundary between the human world and fairyland, run-of-the-mill fae mischief turns into outright aggression, and the danger–to herself and others–becomes too great for her to handle alone.

Leo Merritt is no stranger to magical catastrophes. On his sixteenth birthday, a dormant curse kicked in and ripped away all his memories of his true love. A miserable year has passed since then. He’s road-tripped up and down the East Coast looking for a way to get his memories back and hit one dead end after another. He doesn’t even know his true love’s name, but he feels the absence in his life, and it’s haunting.

Desperate for answers, he makes a pact with Aziza: he’ll provide much-needed backup on her nightly patrols, and in exchange, she’ll help him break the curse.

When the creature in the woods sets its sights on them, their survival depends on the aid of a mysterious young necromancer they’re not certain they can trust. But they’ll have to work together to eradicate the new threat and take back their hometown … even if it forces them to uncover deeply buried secrets and make devastating sacrifices.

This sweeping middle grade fantasy debut by Rochelle Hassan follows Roda and Ignis, who embark on an adventure filled with magic and mystery–perfect for fans of Howl’s Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones.

Roda isn’t afraid of the monsters that roam the wilds of the Aerlands. She’s safe in her small town, which is surrounded by a wall of freezing, enchanted mist that keeps the beasts away. So when Roda rescues an injured crow on the instruction of her secret pen pal, Anonymous–whose letters arrive without warning and correctly predict the future–she’s surprised to learn she’s brought one of the so-called monsters home. Because her crow is really a shape-shifting boy named Ignis.

Ignis doesn’t remember where he was going before he crashed. But Anonymous brought him and Roda together for a reason–and the only way to find out what Anonymous wants is to follow the trail of baffling clues in Roda’s letters. Their perilous journey leads them into the mist and beyond, to a mysterious place called Nowhere. But Ignis has secrets, and the farther they get, the more Roda doubts she can trust him.

As a nefarious force closes in, they’ll have to put aside their differences and work together. For they might be each other’s only defense against an enemy who threatens their past, present, and future.

A JUNIOR LIBRARY GUILD GOLD STANDARD SELECTION!