Thorn

Thorn
Author: Intisar Khanani
Publisher: HarperCollins
Total Pages: 484
Release: 2020-03-24
Genre: Young Adult Fiction
ISBN: 0062835734

Hunted meets The Wrath and the Dawn in this bold fairytale retelling—where court intrigue, false identities, and dark secrets will thrill fans of classic and contemporary fantasy alike. Princess Alyrra has always longed to escape the confines of her royal life, but when her mother betroths her to a powerful prince in a distant kingdom, she has little hope for a better future. Until Alyrra arrives at her new kingdom, where a mysterious sorceress robs her of both her identity and her role as princess—and Alyrra seizes on the opportunity to start a new life for herself as a goose girl. But as Alyrra uncovers dangerous secrets about her new world, including a threat to the prince himself, she knows she can’t remain silent forever. With the fate of the kingdom at stake, Alyrra is caught between two worlds, and ultimately must decide who she is and what she stands for. Originally self-published as an ebook and now brought to life with completely revised text, Thorn also features an additional short story set in-world, The Bone Knife.

The Theft of Sunlight

The Theft of Sunlight
Author: Intisar Khanani
Publisher: HarperCollins
Total Pages: 500
Release: 2021-03-23
Genre: Young Adult Fiction
ISBN: 0062835769

Perfect for fans of The Cruel Prince and Sorcery of Thorns, this exhilarating, page-turning fantasy will pull readers into a lush and stunning world where nothing—and no one—can be trusted. I did not choose this fate. But I will not walk away from it. Children have been disappearing from across Menaiya for longer than Amraeya ni Ansarim can remember. When her friend’s sister is snatched, Rae knows she can’t look away any longer—even if that means seeking answers from the royal court, where her country upbringing and clubfoot will only invite ridicule. Yet the court holds its share of surprises. There she discovers an ally in the foreign princess, who recruits her as an attendant. Armed with the princess’s support, Rae seeks answers in the dark city streets, finding unexpected help in a rough-around-the-edges street thief with secrets of his own. But treachery runs deep, and the more Rae uncovers, the more she endangers the kingdom itself. Praise for Intisar Khanani’s Thorn: “Set in a dark and dangerous world. Well-written and dramatically told, teens will find much to love in a novel in which the princess grows to become a force to be reckoned with.” —School Library Journal (starred review) “Khanani beautifully crafts Alyrra’s quiet but clear journey of self-definition." —Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books (starred review)

Black Thorn, White Rose

Black Thorn, White Rose
Author: Ellen Datlow
Publisher: Eos
Total Pages: 386
Release: 1995
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 9780380771295

Presents eighteen retellings of classic fairy tales in contemporary and adult formats, including the writings of such authors as Peter Straub and Roger Zelazny

Gooseberries Have Thorns

Gooseberries Have Thorns
Author: Margaret L. States
Publisher: FriesenPress
Total Pages: 265
Release: 2022-04-29
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 1039139841

Gooseberries Have Thorns chronicles everyday experiences, relationships, and major events in the lives of Maggie’s ancestors in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The narrative focuses primarily on Maggie and how she navigates various circumstances in racialized Nova Scotia in the early twentieth century. Maggie (Margaret Jane) Elms, born in 1894, is a descendant of Loyalists of African descent who arrived in Nova Scotia in 1783. Prior to her first marriage, Maggie becomes a domestic worker to financially support her mother and siblings. Although shaken by the untimely deaths of her father, a favorite sister, and youngest brother, Maggie remains focused on her goals. She avoids contracting tuberculosis, then is hospitalized with typhoid fever. Several years later, Maggie learns firsthand how difficult it is to be the wife of a coal miner. She also copes with the unexplained death of a daughter, the outcome of a sexual assault in the mining village where they live. Maggie knows what she wants and devises plans to achieve her main goal; regardless, of card carrying KKK members.

HANDFUL OF DUST

HANDFUL OF DUST
Author: Lindsey Smit
Publisher: Author House
Total Pages: 213
Release: 2014
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 149697607X

Tara becomes impossible to live with after her mother's sudden death. She and her father are at loggerheads as he finds it difficult to cope with an unruly teenager by himself. When he cannot cope with her, he drops Tara off at her grandmother's farm out in the middle of nowhere. She knows no one here, has no friends, and no one to confide in. Lost, confused, and desperate for love, Tara finds comfort in a little fairy. However, life becomes complicated when she meets a dashing young man with a dark side. The different effect these two characters have on Tara's life unravels into a mystical love triangle filled with suspense, intrigue, and a love she thought would last forever.

The Goose Fritz

The Goose Fritz
Author: Sergei Lebedev
Publisher: New Vessel Press
Total Pages: 377
Release: 2019-03-19
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1939931738

A man obsessively investigates the mysteries of his family’s past in this “brave and unflinching” novel by the acclaimed Russian author of Oblivion (The Financial Times). Sergei Lebedev’s first two novels, The Year of the Comet and Oblivion, established him as one of Russia’s most important contemporary novelists. Now he reaffirms that status with this third work of fiction. The Goose Fritz tells the story of a young Russian named Kirill, the sole survivor of a once numerous clan of German origin, who delves relentlessly into the unresolved past. When Krill’s ancestor, Balthasar Schwerdt, migrated to the Russian Empire in the early 1800s, he brought with him the practice of alternative medicine. He was then taken captive by an erratic nobleman who supplied entertainment to Catherine the Great in the form of dwarves, hunchbacks, and magicians. S earches archives and cemeteries across Europe, Kirill’s investigation takes us through centuries of turmoil during which none of Schwert’s descendants can escape their adoptive country’s cruel fate. Illuminating both personal and political history, “Lebedev muses in Tolstoyan fashion about [how] the actions of distant ancestors can fix the destinies of people hundreds of years later" (The Wall Street Journal).