Author:Arwen Elys Dayton
The Young Dread lives outside the stream of time: frozen for vast stretches, centuries old yet inhabiting the form of a teenage girl. When she’s awake in the world, she can hear an enemy approach from a mile away, manipulate a whipsword into a thousand forms, and attack with it faster than the human eye can see.
The Young Dread observes the training of the families known as Seekers. Past and future intertwine in Seeker traditions - they are the keepers of both ancient knowledge and advanced weapons - and the Dreads must oversee it all, testing their skills, swearing them to loyalty, bringing them justice.
Arwen Elys Dayton takes readers on a journey to follow this ageless Dread’s footsteps. For this time, when the Young Dread wakes, things will change. She is about to discover the first threads of a web in which she and so many others will be trapped.
Fans of Veronica Roth’s 'Divergent', Marie Lu’s 'Legend', and Suzanne Collins’s 'The Hunger Games' series: your next obsession has arrived
—— Sara Saxton , School Library JournalThe writing is elegant and crisp throughout. Heartstrings are pulled with no trace of sentimentality. I think readers of this book, whether they go to boarding school or not, will love it for the light it sheds on an experience which can be painful for many children
—— Adele Geras , Awfully Big ReviewsMiyazawa moves you to sorrow, to laugh, chuckle, marvel - he makes you live
—— Hiroaki SatoA marvelous writer who deserves to be much better known in English
—— KirkusMiyazawa seems to have been something of a genius
—— ObserverA humble and gifted writer
—— Time[Miyazawa] had stories for many of our basic human vices, and for our basic forms of goodness, too. And this only scratches the surface of his work's appeal... Everything in Miyazawa's work seethes with life. Each leaf, flower, blade of grass, and berry seems to have its own special action.
—— Paris ReviewSuperb fables... in the prettiest edition of Miyazawa yet
—— Times Literary SupplementThanks to the blend of pin-sharp, bright-hued backdrops with outlandish happenings and wholesome messages, Ghibli-movie fans should feel at home
—— SpectatorThis Japanese writer found fame for his poetry and short stories only after his death in 1933. At last, this sublime collection introduces English-speaking readers to his curious and whimsical world
—— MonocleSix enchanting examples in the best tradition of storytelling . . . A treat for the
nines-plus.
I fell in love with it . . . an important, essential, beautiful collection of stories.
—— thebooksmugglers.comThe talented Jamila Gavin is an author to watch and these refreshingly original and exciting stories are guaranteed to enchant children of every age.
—— Lancashire Evening PostBlackberry Blue and Other Fairytales is a beautifully written collection of stories that belongs on pretty much everybody's bookshelf. The descriptions that the author gives of these wonderful worlds are just magical and it is so easy to lose yourself in those words. Even though the stories are fairly short I fell deeply into the world created by the author every time and ended up feeling disappointed at the end of each story because I didn't want it to end . . . These stories are beautiful and magical and are perfect for older children and grown-ups alike.
—— onceuponaseries.blogspot.co.ukAn extraordinary and charming read for any young girl or boy.
—— Formby BooksIt is the storytelling and the language that gives the collection the power to entrance; to be drawn into the spell of the story . . . I thoroughly enjoyed every moment of the reading.
—— Teaching English Magazine