Seven Wild Sisters: A Modern Fairy Tale

by Charles de Lint, Charles Vess (Illustrator)

Overview

This full-color, illustrated companion novel to The Cats of Tanglewood Forest includes "beautiful bookmaking, lovely storytelling, and wondrous illustrations....Readers will be enchanted" (Kirkus Reviews, starred review).
This captivating adventure from two masters of modern fantasy is a story of magic, family, and the power in believing in both. Sarah Jane has always wanted to meet a fairy, but she has no idea that the tiny wounded man she discovers in the Tanglewood Forest is about to ensnare her in a longtime war between rival magical clans. When her six sisters are kidnapped and split up by the opposing sides, she'll need the help of several friends--from the reclusive Aunt Lillian to the mysterious Apple Tree Man--to bring them home. But if they don't untangle themselves from the feud quickly, they could all be trapped in the fairy world forever. In a starred review, Publishers Weekly noted "the lyrical narrative blends a contemporary setting with a fairy tale that might have been plucked from a distinctly different time and place."

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780316239950
Publisher:	Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Publication date:	02/04/2014
Series:	Newford Series
Sold by:	Hachette Digital, Inc.
Format:	eBook
Pages:	256
Sales rank:	202,262
File size:	28 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.
Age Range:	8 - 12 Years

About the Author

CHARLES DE LINT is the much beloved author of more than seventy adult, young adult, and children's books, including The Cats of Tanglewood Forest, The Blue Girl, The Painted Boy, and Under My Skin. Well-known throughout fantasy and science-fiction circles as one of the trailblazers of the modern fantasy genre, he is the recipient of the World Fantasy, White Pine, Crawford, and Aurora awards. De Lint is a poet, songwriter, performer, and folklorist, and he writes a monthly book-review column for the Magazine of Fantasy&Science Fiction. He shares his home in Ottawa, Canada, with his wife, MaryAnn Harris.
CHARLES VESS is a world-renowned artist and a three-time winner of the World Fantasy Award, among several others. His work has appeared in magazines, comic books, and novels, including The Cats of Tanglewood Forest, The Coyote Road: Trickster Tales, Peter Pan, The Book of Ballads, and Stardust, written by Neil Gaiman and made into an acclaimed film by Paramount Pictures in 2007. Vess has also illustrated two picture books with Gaiman, Instructions and Blueberry Girl, that were New York Times bestsellers. His art has been featured in several gallery and museum exhibitions across the United States as well as in Spain, Portugal, the United Kingdom, and Italy. He lives on a small farm and works from his studio, Green Man Press, in southwest Virginia.

Editorial Reviews

★ 04/01/2014
Gr 3–7—The girl from The Cats of Tanglewood Forest (Little, Brown, 2013) returns as elderly and reclusive Aunt Lillian. This delicious companion novel, set many decades after the first story, features Sarah Jane Dillard (the middle daughter in a family of seven redheaded sisters), who befriends Aunt Lillian and unwittingly gets involved in the fairy world. Sarah Jane tells her parts of the story in first person, while her sisters (two sets of twins and two singletons) weave theirs in third person. When Sarah Jane stumbles upon an injured spirit called a "sangman" and assists him, she angers the bee fairies, who have a longstanding feud with the sangman. Aunt Lillian has always told Sarah Jane stories about fairies and the Apple Tree Man, so she is the one Sarah Jane turns to for help. Soon Sarah Jane's sisters are kidnapped, half by the bee fairies and the other half by the sangmen. Aunt Lillian and Sarah Jane attempt to rescue the girls before they are killed or trapped in the fairy world forever. The sisters each have distinct skills and personalities, which de Lint develops marvelously. In an artist's note, Vess informs readers that his novel was previously published in a limited edition with black-and-white pen-and-ink drawings. Here he has added 26 new illustrations, which are beautifully colored with sepia tones and carefully applied color. After a satisfying conclusion, hints are made that more stories will be forthcoming, possibly with a love interest for Sarah Jane.—Michele Shaw, Quail Run Elementary School, San Ramon, CA

School Library Journal

* "Beautiful bookmaking, lovely storytelling, and wondrous illustrations....readers will be enchanted."—Kirkus Reviews, starred review

* "The lyrical narrative blends a contemporary setting with a fairy tale that might have been plucked from a distinctly different time and place."—Publishers Weekly, starred review

* "[A] delicious companion novel."—School Library Journal, starred review

"There is an elegance and thoughtfulness to both the text and accompanying illustrations.... Folktale and fairy tale fans who are seeking a longer adventure into which to settle will find this a perfect fit."—The Bulletin

From the Publisher