The Thief of Worlds

Coville (Sixth-Grade Alien) works personal, global, and universal stakes into a compassionate, worlds-spanning quest starring a seemingly Black 11-year-old Chicagoan named Hurricane. When the wind stops blowing all over Earth, Hurricane—who has danced with, played with, and listened to the breeze ever since his birth during a Missouri storm that tore the roof off his grandmother’s home—worries about his single mother’s health amid worsening air quality and a lack of AC at home. Not long after she’s sent to a clinic, Hurricane is recruited by Zephron Windlord, the extravagantly bearded being in charge of the wind’s provenance: as the youngest person kissed by the wind’s magic, Hurricane must retrieve the magical horn Aerobellan, stolen by unknown forces and taken into one of seven worlds. Visiting each of these worlds and gathering allies—a fledgling water goddess, a gender-fluid catlike being—Hurricane finds that each realm’s elemental keys have been stolen, causing chaos and threatening to destabilize them all. Hurricane’s episodic adventure follows a traditional quest structure while touching on themes of empathy and sustainability, beginning with clear descriptions of the weather’s effect on humankind and moving into an invigorating, action-packed narrative. Ages 8–12. [em]Agent: Barry Goldblatt, Barry Goldblatt Literary. (Apr.) [/em]