⭐⭐⭐⭐ FOUR STARS ⭐⭐⭐⭐

It's real! KINDLING has received a fourth starred review! School Library Journal calls it, "A heartrending, must-read fantasy about youth searching for home and learning to survive a world not designed for them." This review highlights so many of the ways I hoped this book would reach readers, from the power dynamics between young people and the previous generations' most entrenched institutions to the way that reflects on the uncertainty of our current world and the fights we are fighting now for a future we may never see. Thank you so much to School Library Journal for seeing and recognizing KINDLING. Full review to come.

Three stars for KINDLING! ⭐⭐⭐ I could hardly believe it when I saw this yesterday, I refreshed the page about five times to make sure that shiny red star was real! Thanks so much to Publishers Weekly for this lovely review: "Employing simple yet brutal worldbuilding rendered in raw prose, Chee offers an unflinching look into the horrors of war in this Seven Samurai–inspired tale." Read the full review here!

Happy paperback day to A THOUSAND STEPS INTO NIGHT! I am so proud of this spooky/goofy/beautiful little folktale; this road trip through a magical Ghibli-esque world; this critique of American patriarchy in the guise of a rollicking adventure involving spirits, demons, and gods; this zero-romance fantasy about friendship and allies and embracing the parts of yourself that everyone told you were unworthy of love. 👹🌙 To celebrate, I'm finally releasing the playlist I used while writing the book! It's got a wide variety of eerie/lovely/fantastical soundscapes, and most often I'd just hit shuffle and let the music take me away to the world of 1000 Steps! Listen now on Spotify.

Here's the official book description:

A Bank Street Children’s Best Books of the Year
Longlisted for the National Book Award

From bestselling and award-winning author Traci Chee comes a fantasy perfect for fans of Studio Ghibli. When a girl who’s never longed for adventure is hit with a curse that begins to transform her into a demon, she embarks on a quest to reverse the curse and return to her normal life, but along the way is forced to confront her true power within.

In the realm of Awara, where gods, monsters, and humans exist side by side, Miuko is an ordinary girl resigned to a safe, if uneventful, existence as an innkeeper’s daughter.

But when Miuko is cursed and begins to transform into a demon with a deadly touch, she embarks on a quest to reverse the curse and return to her normal life. Aided by a thieving magpie spirit and continuously thwarted by a demon prince, Miuko must outfox tricksters, escape demon hunters, and negotiate with feral gods if she wants to make it home again.

With her transformation comes power and freedom she never even dreamed of, and she’ll have to decide if saving her soul is worth trying to cram herself back into an ordinary life that no longer fits her… and perhaps never did.
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Find it on Bookshop.org, Barnes & Noble, Amazon, Indigo, or at your favorite local retailer!