This lovely, sincere faerie story tempers sadness with joy. Alida’s imprisoned in a castle tower. She remembers being stolen from her family and locked away, but she doesn’t know why; year after year, seasons pass in lonely silence. Because she’s a faerie, 60 years doesn’t take her past childhood, but the utter isolation, lack of nature and absence of family steal her ability to hover. One day, Alida’s anonymously delivered food tray bears yellow blossoms. Duey’s description of this pivotal moment will warm readers top to toe: “Trembling, she ate each flower carefully, slowly, lost in the sweet taste, the wonderful, complicated smell of the flowers. And when the flowers were all gone, she twirled in a circle, smiling.” This simple prose and its depth of feeling continue as Alida meets a human boy and two strong human women, escapes from the castle, learns to fly and confronts unsettling information. She meets her ever-shifting challenges with steadiness, and readers will eagerly return for the next volume as she searches for her vanished family. (Fantasy. 7-10)
