Road of the Lost

Azad (The Wild Ones) elevates a traditional quest narrative with a vividly imagined fantasy setting in this sweeping adventure. Sixteen-year-old Croi is a brownie, a being invisible to humans who lives in the fae-populated Wilde Forest and was raised by the Hag, Croi’s forbidding “part stone, part memory, and part tree” guardian. Croi has always been fascinated by humans, often venturing into the neighboring village to observe them, until suddenly, her invisibility fails her. Upon returning to the Wilde Forest, the Hag reveals a startling truth: Croi is not actually a brownie, but something else entirely, and her memories of her past and heritage are locked away beneath layers of magic. After the Hag gives her a book of advanced spells, Croi feels an instinctual magical pull summoning her to the Higher Fae realm— the Otherworld. As Croi ventures further into the Otherworld, she encounters traps, beguilements, and other dangers she must survive if she hopes to strip away the layered enchantments and unearth her memories. Though abstract prose occasionally stalls narrative flow, the keenly developed and complex cast deftly propel the fast-paced plot. Ages 14–up. Agent: Katelyn Detweiler, Jill Grinberg Literary Management. (Oct.)