A STAR for Wicked Nix!

In just over a month, WICKED NIX will arrive on the shelves. It’s a nail-biting time for an author because reviews are starting to come in. I’m so delighted that NIX has just received its first star from Booklist! It’s also going to be a Junior Library Guild selection!  October 9th, here we come!

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★ “Nix, “the foulest of the fairies,” lives in the forest near a village, subsisting on fairy gifts from townspeople or anything he can scrounge up (“it’s not stealing if you’re a fairy”), all while waiting for the return of the fairy queen, who abandoned him last summer. When a strange, bald man moves into a cottage in the forest, Nix is certain it will anger his queen and ruin his chances to be accepted back into her fold, so he sets out to use his mischievous fairy magic to scare the man away. But Nix’s magic isn’t very powerful, and the man in the cottage is quite wily. Readers will probably catch on early that Nix isn’t truly a fairy, but that doesn’t mean there’s no magic here: some of Nix’s fantastical-sounding tales turn out to be true after all, and there’s plenty of empowering magic in his gradual realizations about family. Coakley nicely captures the salty, determined voice of impish Nix, who’s utterly convinced of his own magic and feels most at home cradled in the trees, and she strikes a thoughtful balance between fairy tales and the realistic feelings of loss and love. An underlying message that freewheeling independence and family aren’t mutually exclusive is particularly well-handled. The succinct, fairy-tale narrative style and heart-warming conclusion should make this especially appealing to kids starting to get a handle on chapter books.”

xxxxxx—Booklist (starred review)

“Read alone or read aloud, Coakley’s tale has a tangible sense of wonder that conjures a cozy magic. A strong purchase.”

xxxxxx—School Library Journal

“This dark twist on the old legend of stolen children is a spooky, compelling read.”

xxxxxx—Kirkus. Read full review here.