Cuckoo Song

Eleven-year-old Triss Crescent wakes up confused after a terrifying accident. Her memories don't feel like her own, and ravenous hunger devours all self-control. Seeking the explanation for her bizarre circumstances, Triss (with little sister Pen) uncovers a grotesque magical world existing in the shadows of her own 1920s town. This sophisticated, disturbing tale shivers with suspense and touching moments of bravery.

Eleven-year-old Triss Crescent wakes up confused after a terrifying accident. Her memories don’t feel like her own; she hears a voice like dry leaves; and a ravenous hunger devours all self-control. Mysteries quickly darken further, with whispers about secret enemies and a missing-presumed-dead brother; meanwhile, dolls come eerily to life, and Triss’s spiteful little sister Pen seems to know what is going on. Though the sisters have been at odds for years, mutual trust will be the only way to set things right. As Triss tracks down the sinister explanation for her bizarre circumstances, her sheltered life turns into an adventure through a grotesque magical world, one that exists in the shadows of her own, vividly evoked, 1920s town. Hardinge (Fly by Night; The Lost Conspiracy, rev. 9/09) writes with a comfortable command of changeling-child story traditions, twisting them into her own darkly imaginative contribution to the genre. Breathless chases and tense foreboding drive the plot toward a harrowing climax, in which mortality and magic contend spectacularly. Hardinge is equally adept at capturing family dynamics; even during the most fantastical occurrences, the Crescent family’s strained interactions are realistically nuanced. Cuckoo Song is a sophisticated, disturbing tale that shivers with suspense and touching moments of bravery. sarah berman