by M T Khan (Author)
In this mesmerizing novel, a wealthy young boy searching for his mother teams up with a fiery jinn princess all while battling in a tournament of heirs--and trying to keep his life from changing forever.
Twelve-year-old Amir is one of the heirs to the Rafiq Bricks Company, a wealthy brick kiln business in Pakistan--except he wants none of it. Seeing straight through the jeweled smiles and transactional conversations, Amir would rather spend time in the courtyard garden, where he can almost feel his missing mother's presence again.
Amir is devastated when his baba announces plans to remarry by the end of the summer, dropping all searches to find Amir's mother. It's all a business move, just like everything else in his life. His mother was the only one who allowed him to feel normal, but the last anyone's seen of her was a year ago. But Amir isn't ready to give up yet--determined to find his mother before his life changes forever, Amir teams up with a high-spirited, wide-eyed, shape-shifting jinn princess named Shamsa. His exact opposite.
The two make a deal--Shamsa will help Amir navigate the twisty and mysterious realm of jinn, and in exchange Amir must use his wits to help Shamsa win a tournament of heirs and put her on the throne. Amir and Shamsa must contend with silver-tongued tricksters and magical rivals, and a truth far more devastating than Amir ever expected....
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Captivatingly well written and magical.
The 12-year-old heir to a brick-making company in Lahore, Pakistan, partners with a powerful jinn princess to find his absent mother in this beguiling fantasy adventure by Khan (Nura and the Immortal Palace). Privileged Amir Rafiq yearns for his mother. Whether she went missing or abandoned the family is unclear, but when Amir's grandmother decides that his father must remarry before the end of summer to remove the "stain" her disappearance placed on their family name, Amir determines to find her. Fortunately, he soon learns that the cat he adopted in secret is a jinn princess named Shamsa in disguise. Shamsa offers to help Amir search for his mother; in exchange, Amir must assist Shamsa in her quest to become next in line as king of the jinn. During their journey, which teems with playfully tinged practicalities (Shamsa and Amir travel to the jinn world via train), Amir learns that he's not the only one facing hardships. Khan conveys these lessons with sensitivity, taking care not to invalidate Amir's concerns, culminating in an empathetic portrait of two lonely tweens who help to broaden each other's worldviews, along the way finding genuine companionship and previously untapped strength. Ages 8-12. (July)
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