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Mohrbooks Literary Agency
Sebastian Ritscher
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English
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THE STOLEN PRINCE OF CLOUDBURST

Jaclyn Moriarty

A magical fantasy featuring a delightfully earnest protagonist who is determined to save her school from the wicked and wily Shadow Mages.
Esther Mettlestone-Staranise is looking forward to another year at the Katherine Valley Boarding School, but when she arrives, she finds a lot of strange and unsettling changes.

For one, her teacher may or may not be an ogre, and she is most certainly out to get Esther in as much trouble as she possibly can. Then there's the new girl, who is a Whisperer, and rumors of a Spellbinder hiding among the students. Reassuring, for as long as the Spellbinder is there, the students are safe from the wicked Shadow Mages who have suddenly appeared in the valley.

When the Spellbinder falls sick, Esther takes it upon herself to protect the school from the encroaching forces of darkness; but she's soon in over her head when she discovers that it's not only Shadow Mages, but an ancient and terrible Fiend that wants to drown all the Kingdoms and Empires. How can Esther - who is not a Spellbinder, or a Faery, or a Whisperer, but just Esther - save her world when she's utterly ordinary?

Jaclyn Moriarty grew up in Sydney, Australia, with four sisters (including authors Liane and Nicola Moriarty), one brother, two dogs, and twelve chickens. She studied law at the University of Sydney, Yale, and Cambridge, and worked as an entertainment lawyer before she wrote the Ashbury High novels, including THE YEAR OF SECRET ASSIGNMENTS, THE MURDER OF BINDY MACKENZIE, and THE GHOSTS OF ASHBURY HIGH. She still lives in Sydney with her son, Charlie.
Available products
Book

Published 2021-03-16 by Levine Querido

Book

Published 2021-03-16 by Levine Querido

Comments

UK: Guppy Books ; ANZ: Allen & Unwin

There's a lot packed into this sweet tale told in a deceptively simple, authentic 12-year-old voice. Without devolving into a didactic tone, this novel addresses the concept of safe adults, the danger of comparing oneself to others, the importance of telling the truth and standing up to bullies, and the value of apologizing. Readers can return to this text over and over, and always discover something new. A delightfully quirky story with nuance, depth, and a colorful cast of characters, this book begs for multiple readings.

Jaclyn Moriarty makes me laugh, hysterically - and cry, unexpectedly... Startlingly original fantasy.

The tale crescendos to an uplifting close that promotes honesty, bravery, and self-confidence.

Esther's wry humor, appealing voice, and her heroic role in saving the world, are nicely blended while an epilogue delivers a poignant close... Splendidly entertaining.

Quick chapters (more than 150 of them!) and punchy prose will bind readers to the page as Esther's day-to-day school life gradually expands into a fairly epic, high-stakes climax, the smattering of little mysteries - embedded early on - growing from trifles into significant puzzle pieces. Moriarty brilliantly fits it all together and, as usual, is relentlessly clever throughout, maintaining a tone firmly on the comic side of fantasy, though this doesn't keep Esther's story from nailing critical moments of emotional resonance.