Elphie: A Wicked Childhood

Bestseller Maguire explores Elphaba Thropp’s origins in this charming prequel to Wicked. Dragged around the marshlands by her traveling minister father, Frexspar, green-skinned Elphie grows up isolated from all children other than her younger siblings. She doesn’t know much about her father’s work, only that he is propelled by a personal mission to find and apologize to the family of the prophet Turtle Heart, whose death Elphie’s parents feel responsible for. By the time Elphie is 13, Frexspar’s mission leads them to Ovvels, a small town in the south of Oz, where they stay a while, allowing Elphie to begin to carve a path for herself despite her dermatological difference. Charting Elphie’s growth from a young child to a prospective student at Shiz University, Maguire enchants with his whimsical narrative voice and the detailed wonders of the world he’s spent so many years playing in. This is a must-read for fans of both the original novel and the Broadway musical. Agent: Moses Cardona, John Hawkins and Assoc. (Mar.)