The Last Windwitch

by Jennifer Adam (Author)

The Last Windwitch
Reading Level: 6th − 7th Grade

Fans of Shannon Hale and Kelly Barnhill will delight in this charming and richly imagined middle grade fantasy debut, featuring a wicked queen, magical animals, a henchman with a golden heart, and a small girl with a great destiny.

Many years ago, in the kingdom of Fenwood Reach, there was a powerful Windwitch who wove the seasons, keeping the land bountiful and the people happy. But then a dark magic drove her from the realm, and the world fell into chaos. Brida is content in her small village of Oak Hollow. There, she's plenty occupied trying to convince her fickle magic to actually do what it's meant to in her work as a hedgewitch's apprentice--until she accidentally catches the attention of the wicked queen. On the run from the queen's huntsman and her all-seeing Crow spies, Brida discovers the truth about her family, her magic, and who she is destined to be--and that she may hold the power to defeating the wicked queen and setting the kingdom right again.

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Kirkus

Satisfying fare for readers who prefer their heroes and baddies clearly distinguished. (Fantasy. 9-12).

Copyright 2021 Kirkus Reviews, LLC Used with permission.

Publishers Weekly

An intriguing setting, an interesting magical system, and a resourceful, empathic heroine mark this ambitious fantasy debut by Adam. Brida, 12 and good with horses, is finding it difficult to master the hedge magic she's learning from her mentor, hedge witch Mother Magdi, who took her in as an infant. After she hears a forbidden story of mythical stormhorses that embody uncontrollable aspects of weather, then spots them, she determines to prove her worth to the tiny village she calls home by getting to the bottom of their destructive rampages. But her efforts place her in the path of the wicked Queen Moira, who seeks the stormhorses for her own unfathomable ends. Captured by the Queen's Huntsman and brought to the capital city, Brida learns more of the ways in which magic manifests and is used--from hedge magic to ruthlessly outlawed sacred spells to sinister shadow magic--and the relationship between her family and myriad magical forms. While the leisurely, sprawling epic occasionally meanders, Adam succeeds in bringing everything together, emphasizing forgiveness and healing over vengeance and anger. Ages 8-12. Agent: Sarah Landis, Sterling Lord Literistic. (Apr.)

Copyright 2021 Publishers Weekly, LLC Used with permission.

Review quotes

"Brida's unusual magic [is] beautifully described......Readers will appreciate the emphasis on individual kindness and widespread cooperation between different kinds of magic users and ordinary people united against oppression and cruelty."—Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books
Classification
-
ISBN-13
9780062981318
Lexile Measure
-
Guided Reading Level
-
Publisher
HarperCollins
Publication date
May 10, 2022
Series
-
BISAC categories
JUV039060 - Juvenile Fiction | Social Themes | Friendship
JUV037000 - Juvenile Fiction | Fantasy & Magic
JUV001000 - Juvenile Fiction | Action & Adventure
Library of Congress categories
Adventure and adventurers
Magic
Adventure stories
Fantasy
Witches
Apprentices
Kings, queens, rulers, etc
Kings and rulers
Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, 04/01/21

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