A lush and beautiful fantasy set in a world where music is magic and the fate of many thrones lies with one girl... "Excellent."--Booklist Twelve-year-old Elissa has been raised in seclusion as a devotee of the Mother Goddess. She is a special child, a blessed child, a child who can sing miracles into being. Her voice can heal wounds, halt landslides, cure hunger--and even end wars. But there are those who would use her gift for darker things. And when Elissa finds herself the farthest from home she's ever been--along with her vain and jealous music tutor, Lucio--she will have to develop the judgment to decide who wants to use her song to heal... and who wants to use her song to hurt. In this astonishing debut--perfect for music lovers--Catherine Bakewell presents not only a wholly unique musical magic system, but a sumptuous baroque world filled with soaring basilicas, gilded palaces, dazzling food, and snow-piled wildernesses. It is a world both beautiful and treacherous, with a fiercely determined girl blazing brightly at its center. Can a lone voice change the world? "Spellbinding."--The Horn Book"Beguiling."--Publishers Weekly"Unique."--BCCB "Captivating."--School Library Connection"Enthralling."--YA Books Central "Alluring."--School Library Journal
