The floating island of Morovia houses both humans and alkonosts, birdlike people with feathers instead of hair and a propensity to spin magic via beautiful song. The powers can be minor (summoning butterflies) or substantial (altering a river's course). The two groups live in harmony until a seemingly magical disaster wipes out a royal entourage. The humans rally to ban the dangerous magic and exile the alkonosts to the swampy outskirts of the island. Young alkonost Linnet roams the swamp with her beloved father, but after he's captured by human soldiers, she will risk everything to get him back, including reuniting with a friend-turned-enemy. Anderson again pulls from Slavic folklore to conjure the extraordinary alkonost community, and the story is rich in setting and mythology. Linnet is a kind and clever protagonist, walking readers gently through difficult discussions about grief and broken relationships. A marvelous, magical reminder to seek out the best in ourselves and in each other.

A valiant girl with feathers acts to save her father and her island community.Thirteen-year-old Linnet is an alkonost, or bird person, who longs for her old life when she lived comfortably with her parents in the town of Spark and had friends both human and alkonost. This harmonious union existed for the thousands of years after a shipwreck left humans stranded on the alkonosts' island of Morovia. But after a freak storm and tidal wave killed the queens, one alkonost and one human, and devastated the island, tyrannical Capt. Ilya of the royal guards has worked to eliminate the alkonosts' singing magic, which many humans blamed for the tragedy. When Linnet's father is taken prisoner, Linnet turns to friends old and new and to Hero, her childhood compatriot, now a member of the royal guard, for help. Anderson delivers convincing, inviting worldbuilding, wide in scope, lovely in its evocation of landscapes, and entrancing in descriptions of foods, crafts, clothing, and feathers. Linnet's determined hopefulness and strong spirit bolster her realization that love, not hatred or anger, will help heal the island. This informs her actions and bold opposition to tyranny on the day of her father's trial. Anderson's author's note reveals that the story is a reimagining of the Russian folk poem "Nightingale the Robber." Alkonosts' skin color can change hue for camouflage when they molt; Hero has black hair and light brown skin, and other human characters are racially diverse.Impressively different and captivating. (Fantasy. 9-13)

Shaped like a broken heart, the floating Island of Moravia is home to two species—birdlike, magic-singing alkanosts, and humans, long ago shipwrecked on the island. The groups lived in harmony until a tidal wave three years back claimed a ship and the groups’ respective queens. Blamed by Captain Ilya, a human royal guard who holds singing magic responsible for the event, the alkanosts are persecuted: forbidden to use their abilities, banned from public spaces, and forced to live in a swamp. Among them is Linnet, 13, whose mother also went down with the ship; though her magic has yet to manifest, Linnet believes that her song will eventually oust Captain Ilya and reunite the islands’ inhabitants. When her father is arrested, Linnet gathers allies, including former human friend Hero, now a member of the royal guard, to free her unjustly imprisoned dad and others. Drawing upon a Russian folk poem for inspiration, per an author’s note, Anderson (The Castle of Tangled Magic) uses Linnet’s hopeful first-person narration to flesh out imaginatively wrought beings and landscapes throughout a quietly magical folk telling that examines themes of injustice, prejudice, and unity. Alkanosts’ feathers and skin change color during molts; Hero has light brown skin. Ages 8–12. Agent: Gemma Cooper, Bent Agency. (May)