Majestica

Thirteen-year-old orphaned Hattie Swift, a maid-in-training, has spent her life at Majestica, a resort home to Ridgewell’s Fantastical Creature Park, a magical wildlife preserve where her gamekeeper father worked until his death when she was six. When she’s assigned as a replacement maid for the spoiled hotel owner’s niece Evelyn Ridgewell, also 13, and must accompany Evelyn on a guided tour of the preserve, neither girl is happy. After disaster strands the tour members in a wilderness full of mystical creatures, ruthless hunters, and other hazards, Hattie and Evelyn form an unlikely alliance to survive on their way back to the hotel. Along their journey, they discover that there are dark secrets surrounding the park’s origins and true purpose and resolve to protect the preserve’s inhabitants from further danger. As Hattie and Evelyn contend with supernatural creatures—including three-headed “trigers” and dragons—they must also navigate interpersonal challenges stemming from their family legacies and disparate social standings. Via the girls’ alternating POVs and evocative descriptions of the park’s natural setting, Tolcser (Whisper of the Tide) delivers a pulse-pounding adventure that examines themes of conservation, exploitation, and responsibility. Hattie and Evelyn read as white. Ages 8–12. Agent: Susan Hawk, Upstart Crow Literary. (July)