LoveReading4Kids Says
LoveReading4Kids Says
March 2022 Debut of the Month
Radiant with otherworldly magic and the real-world beauty of the Lake District, Alex Mullarky's The Sky Beneath the Stone debut sees a relatable girl face her biggest fears as she embarks on a quest to free her younger sibling from a sorcerer’s spell.
Thirteen-year-old Ivy has an adventurer’s spirit, but since getting lost a year ago, the familiar lakes and mountains she loves now felt “like strangers to her…The fells she had once seen as gentle and rolling were now uncertain and menacing, a landscape waiting to swallow her whole”.
Then, when Ivy’s little brother Callum goes missing, Grendel the dog leads her to a mysterious hole in the wall, where she sees Callum transform into a kestrel. Wracked with worry, Ivy hears a woman’s voice in a shell: “Only you can find your brother. Come through the wall. Seek out Long Meg”. Ivy’s anxiety is sensitively evoked, and palpable, but, armed with her map, she ventures beyond the wall, into the enchanted realm of Underfell. Though the landscape resembles places she knows, Ivy immediately senses a difference. Echoing Dorothy’s feelings about Kansas, she remarks, “I don’t think we’re in Cumbria at all”.
Beyond the wall, Ivy finds a kingdom of fairy magic and a friend in the form of Kit, a boy who’s lost his own brother. Together they embark on a captivating, folklore-infused quest to find both their siblings, with the Ordnance Survey grid references opening each chapter adding an extra element of immersive adventure – readers might be inspired to plot out the route and follow it during trips to the Lakes.
Joanne Owen
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About
The Sky Beneath the Stone Synopsis
Thirteen-year-old Ivy North is an adventurer. She can pitch a tent in four minutes flat, knows the local landscape like the back of her hand, and she's an expert map reader. There's just one problem. She's afraid to go outside. But when her little brother is transformed into a kestrel by a powerful sorcerer, Ivy is the only one who can rescue him.
Following him through a mysterious hole in the garden wall, she emerges in Underfell -- an enchanted realm that seems like the Lake District she knows, but is dangerously different. Battling her dread of being out in the open, Ivy must gather all her courage to navigate a path across this extraordinary world, where powerful fairies with birds' wings fly through purple skies and a ghostly spectre haunts her every step. With the help of an unexpected new friend, can Ivy break the spell -- before her brother becomes a bird forever?
An immersive and beautifully written fantasy adventure, The Sky Beneath the Stone is a soaring journey of family, friendship, overcoming fear -- and realising that we are never as lost as we think we are. Alex Mullarky's debut novel introduces a captivating new talent in children's fiction.
About This Edition
| ISBN: |
9781782507871 |
| Publication date: |
24th February 2022 |
| Author: |
Alex Mullarky |
| Publisher: |
Floris Books |
| Format: |
Paperback |
| Pagination: |
280 pages |
| Series: |
Kelpies |
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Press Reviews
Alex Mullarky Press Reviews
'I absolutely adored this! This Sky Beneath the Stone is beautiful, bright and brilliant -- a perfect blend of magic, adventure and heart, with a gorgeous Cumbrian setting, a wonderful weaving of nature, folklore and history, heart-lifting incidental inclusivity, and OS grid references at the start of each chapter so you can map the journey! It is one of those books I want to press into every young reader's hands, because I know so many of them will fall in love with it.' -- Sophie Anderson, Carnegie-shortlisted author of The House with Chicken Legs
'A beautifully written adventure steeped in the myths and magic of the Lake District. I long to journey through the wall and explore the enchanted, dangerous wilds of Underfell!' -- Ross MacKenzie, author of the Nowhere Emporium trilogy
'When her brother is enchanted, a young girl must overcome her fear of the outside in this assured fantasy debut. The richly drawn Lake District setting is enhanced by Ordnance Survey grid references at the beginning of each chapter.' -- The Bookseller
Author
About Alex Mullarky
Alex Mullarky is a writer, veterinary nurse and the author of The Sky Beneath the Stone. They transport injured seals as a Marine Mammal Medic and scan the sea for whales and dolphins with Shorewatch. Their work with wildlife inspires their stories about nature and magic. Alex lives on the edge of Edinburgh with their family and loves to explore Scotland's wild coasts and islands in their free time. They can often be found wild swimming, playing roller derby, or running along the beach with their dog Finn.
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