Big news in the world of children’s books: one of 2018’s most eagerly anticipated sequels has arrived. Nevermoor: The Trials of Morrigan Crow was the biggest-selling Australian children’s debut since records began. This incredible piece of storytelling which gripped the hearts and minds of children everywhere, introduced 12-year-old Morrigan who had been cursed from birth, blamed for everything that went wrong, and was destined to die on Eventide.
Morrigan’s fate changed when Jupiter North, a Witness and a member of the Wunsoc High Council of Elders, appeared and whisked her off the fantastical city of Nevermoor.
In the just released sequel, Wundersmith: The Calling of Morrigan Crow, Jupiter North is now Morrigan’s patron and she has successfully gained a place in the prestigious Wunderous Society where members learn to use their knack or special power.
Morrigan’s knack is being a Wundersmith (traditionally they had the ability to grant wishes and protect). More recently though, this special gift has been abused and is now treated with extreme caution and suspicion. All other Wundersmiths aside from the evil Ezra Squall, have been eradicated and have gone down in history as selfish, excessive and dangerous.
So Morrigan is forced to keep her knack secret from all. Only Wunsoc’s High Council of Elders and Unit 919 – the group of other scholars she started with – know about it.
It looks like everything could turn around for Morrigan, however it is a bumpy ride from the outset, for people have been disappearing from the Wunderous Society, and she is only allowed to attend two classes – History of Heinous Wundrous Acts and Decoding Nevermoor: How to Successfully Navigate the Free State’s Most Dangerous and Ridiculous, and there is a growing suspicion about her secret knack.
When unit 919 start receiving blackmail letters from The Charlton Five who declare they will reveal ‘the terrible truth about Unit 919,’ Morrigan’s fellow scholars start to exclude and resent her.
With all of this going on how will Morrigan ever learn to use her knack and find out abouther special abilities? Surely all Wundersmiths can’t be bad? And where are all the missing people?
Nevermoor is an amazingly detailed and fascinating fantasy world with Wundersmith taking Morrigan from the grand halls of the Wunderous Society to the Ghastly Market, the fabulous Hotel Deucalion and down Tricksy lanes. Author Jessica Townsend encourages readers to consider loyalty, individuality and talent, team work, courage, and the importance of family and friendships.
Wundersmith will keep 8 +readers on the edge of their seat – our advice is to just let them keep reading until they finish as their heads will be off on the brolly rail, hanging out with the Magnificats or wondering how it feels to ride a dragon.
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Jessica Townsend lives on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland. Her pet fascinations include public transport, ancient cities, hotels, opera singers, Halloween, secret societies and gigantic cats – all of which have weaselled their way into Nevermoor: The Trials of Morrigan Crow, her award-winning first novel released in 2017. Wundersmith: The Calling of Morrigan Crow, the second book in this record-breaking series is out now.
Nevermoor: The Trials of Morrigan Crow was the biggest-selling Australian children’s debut since records began. It has won the 2018 ABIA for Book of the Year, Book of the Year for Younger Readers and Matt Richell Award for New Writer of the Year; the 2018 Indie Book Awards Book of the Year and Children’s Category; the 2017 Aurealis Award for Best Children’s Fiction; the 2018 Waterstones Children’s Book Prize for Younger Fiction and was named a CBCA notable book.
And not just for 8+. I may have a couple or more decades on that and I loved it.