We Need Diverse Books cofounder Ellen Oh, author of Spirit Hunters, creates a masterful middle grade fantasy stand-alone with Asian influence and nonstop action. Two dynamic young heroes, a poor ranger and a lost princess, are linked by a magical forest and must save their worlds from a long-forgotten evil. In a kingdom filled with magic, Jiho Park and his family are an anomaly—magic doesn’t affect them. Jiho comes from a long line of forest rangers who protect the Kidahara—an ancient and mysterious wood that is home to powerful supernatural creatures. But Jiho wants nothing to do with the dangerous forest. Five years ago, his father walked into the Kidahara and disappeared. Just like young Princess Koko, the only daughter of the kingdom’s royal family. Jiho knows better than anyone else the horrors that live deep in the magical forest and how those who go in never come back. Now the ancient forest is in danger from foreign forces that want to destroy it, and a long-forgotten evil that’s been lurking deep in the Kidahara for centuries finally begins to awaken. Can a magicless boy, a fierce bandit leader, and a lost princess join forces and save their worlds before it’s too late? Paperback: 272 pages Publisher: HarperCollins (April 27, 2021) ISBN-13: 978-0062875808
