The Prince of Nowhere

Gr 3-7–Twelve-year-old Roda remembers perfectly the day she rescued a crow from the mists surrounding her town. The first two notes she’d received from someone known only as Anonymous had been fairly innocuous in their predictions of future events and odd riddles—so when the third told her to save the crow, she never would have guessed how completely that one action would change her life. Now Roda and the crow, actually a shape-shifting boy named Ignis, must follow Anonymous’s instructions and venture outside the mists protecting Roda’s home on a perilous journey in search of a place called Nowhere. They hope to find a way to save Roda’s mother, unlock Ignis’s missing memories and possibly travel back in time to prevent the events that led to his family’s death. Hassan’s debut is a wonderful blend of speculative genres, featuring a rich world and complex characters readers are sure to love. Roda and her family are white; other characters present more diversely, in a fantasy context.