DEBUT YA NOVEL
LEAD YA
HOT CATEGORY: Circus books have been doing well lately across the industry from The Night Circus to Circus Mirandus to Caraval. This is a sexy, bright entry for the YA set.
EVERYTHING YOU WANT IN A YA:Cool magical powers, long-hidden family secrets, a clue hunt, and ROMANCE. These elements are candy for YA readers.
GORGEOUS WRITING. AN AUTHOR TO WATCH: Sommerby's evocative language will suck you right in.
DIVERSITY AND DIFFERENT TYPES OF FAMILIES: The main character’s adoptive father is of mixed-race, and the author has done careful research to vet and historically contextualize his origin. This is one of the most teder and moving father-daughter relationships we've seen in quite a while.
BUILDING A REVIEW BASE: Though this is Sommersby's first YA, she's self-published adult books under the name Eliza Gordon (Must Love Otters; Hollie Porter Builds a Raft; Neurotica). They've been well-reviewed with more thean 50 reviews on each (Otters has nearly 500.) She knows how to drum up interest for her books.
SEQUEL COMING: The secomnd book in the sequence, Scheme will release in Spring 2019, so there's much more to look forward to with these characters.
