THE CURSE OF THE RAVEN MOCKER

Adanta fights for her parents’ lives in this ambitious fantasy. A wicked stranger has lured away Adanta’s mother, and Adanta—whose ailing father has vanished—is left alone. After a confusing opening sequence, Adanta resolves to rescue them. She meets an old woman who claims to be her grandmother and who tells Adanta that her kin are the people of Adantis, a hidden mountain folk descended from the Cherokee, the Scotch-Irish settlers of Appalachia, and a few mythical creatures. In fairytale fashion, the grandmother gives Adanta three gifts to aid her on her quest and then mysteriously vanishes. Adanta makes a grueling journey to find her grandmother’s people and rescue her own parents. The semi-magical Adantans and a storytelling boy teach Adanta their history as she prepares for her dangerous confrontation with the life-stealing Raven Mockers. The fusion of Appalachian and Cherokee cultures is compelling—snake-handling moonshiners share bodies with Cherokee mythical beings—though it could be smoother. A good effort at blending novel with folktale and occasionally magical. (Fiction. 10-13)