The Kingdom Over the Sea

May 1, 2023
Cryptic directions from her mother lead Yara Sulimayah from England to a magical world. Upon her death, Yara's mother leaves her instructions for reaching another world--the city of Zehaira, where she'll find the sorceress Leyla Khatoun. Although skeptical, Yara's also desperate to learn more about her and her mother's past (on paper, they're from Iraq). She finds an alternate world where the Sultan has sided with the alchemists, banning magic and forcing the sorcerers into hiding through a brutal Inquisition. On her journey to find Leyla, Yara overhears evidence of a dangerous plot to wipe out sorcerers for good. But Leyla, rather than helping her as her mother promised, is busy keeping a secret sorcerer settlement running and is uninterested in the city sorcerers' woes. Yara must crack through Leyla's self-protective mechanisms and convince her of the existential threat coming their way, all the while trying to get Leyla to spill the secrets Yara's mother kept. That Yara ends up having (unconventional) magic of her own might be expected, but by then readers will have already formed an attachment to the determined, bighearted hero. The setting--an Arab-coded world that simmers with magic--is richly described and populated by complex people and jinn. The ending wraps the action up a bit abruptly but looks forward to more dangers and adventures in the sequel. A debut that marks the author as an exciting storyteller to watch. (Fantasy. 8-14)

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June 1, 2023
Grades 6-8 "Beneath these stars and on this sea, an ancient spell once carried me" starts Yara's adventures. Written by her dead mother, a spell on the back of a letter brings her to the magical city of Zehaira, a place beyond England that holds the truth of her past. But is it safe? Alchemists plan a sinister plot, and the magic that brought Yara across worlds is illegal. Teaming up with a goat-shaped jinn and a reluctant sorceress, Yara starts her journey of self-discovery. Nabi's debut is a portal fantasy inspired by folktales and stories from Iraq, creating a fully realized fantasy world where injustice occurs just like in ours, and it takes strong-hearted children like Yara to make change. While the pacing makes it slow to reach the main plot, the land is full of adventure, with a secret settlement full of sorcerers, trips on flying carpets, and dangerous conspiracies. Accompanied by illustrations, this new series is perfect for fans of Philip Pullman and Tahereh Mafi.

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