ASTERWOOD

A middle grade version of The Hazel Wood by way of Kelly Barnhill, a mysterious new friend introduces a motherless girl to a fantastical yet ominous world, where she discovers not only a secret world and a group of kids that are relying on her, but also that her family has secrets of its own.

Now, the tree wavered back and forth, its base engulfed in flames. "And what kind of mother would I have been if I had found you? You don't think I love you? You don't think I want you to live a life untouched by badness or hurt? Untouched by me? You are my greatest love and greatest agony." Twelve-year-old Madelyn Delios doesn't quite fit in her small New Hampshire town, but she'd never let her father, Ezra, know how much it hurts. Life in their lopsided old farmhouse overflows with great books, cozy meals, and father-daughter adventures in the surrounding woods. What more could a good daughter ask for? After all, it's not Ezra's fault that Madelyn doesn't have a mother. But, when a mysterious new friend appears in the woods behind her house and invites her down a forbidden trail to another world, Madelyn is forced to reckon with yearnings she's long suppressed and uncomfortable truths she's always suspected. ASTERWOOD is a story of what we inherit, of magic and mothers, and of how one society's insatiable desire brings their enchanted ecosystem to the brink of collapse. Beware of cannibals, complacency, raging rivers, and the shock of seeing your parents as human for the very first time. Jacquelyn Stolos is a writer living and teaching in Los Angeles. She holds an MFA in fiction from New York University where she was a Writers in the Public Schools Fellow. Jacquelyn has won fellowships to attend the New York State Summer Writers Institute and the Community of Writers. Her short fiction has appeared or is forthcoming in Bodega Magazine, No Tokens, Joyland and more. Find her online at http://www.jacquelynstolos.com/