Hattie Swift is a maid-in-training at Majestica, a resort and nature preserve where visitors come face-to-face with rare magical flora and fauna. She’s thrilled to be invited along on the park’s famous wilderness train excursion for the first time, but there’s a catch: She has to accompany Evelyn Ridgewell, the hotel owner’s haughty niece, who wants nothing to do with her.
Soon after embarking, Evelyn overhears a man who aims to hunt the park’s creatures for sport, and Hattie meets Jacob Threadborne, an apprentice magician sent by a foreign government on a top-secret mission. Then the magical fences keeping guests safe stop working, and the train breaks down in the most treacherous part of the jungle. Faced with poachers, man-eating trees, and a dragon on the loose, Hattie, Evelyn, and Jacob must stick together to figure out what’s gone wrong at Majestica... that is, if they want to make it out alive.
Jurassic Park meets Skandar and the Unicorn Thief in this page-turning middle grade fantasy adventure set at a nature preserve for magical beasts, where two girls find themselves on a wilderness expedition gone disastrously wrong. With a richly illustrated map of the expansive nature preserve, as well as a bestiary with all the creatures at Majestica, this book invites you to dive into this lush and perilous world.
"The rich worldbuilding will draw readers into an immersive adventure among the animal preserve’s biomes. Tolcser combines themes of conservation and the repatriation of cultural artifacts with unexpected friendships to create a fast-paced fantasy. Caparo’s exquisite art adds to the magic.... Charming characters abound in this tale that’s thoughtfully grounded in ethics." — Kirkus Reviews
Recommended Age | 10 - 13 |
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Author | Sarah Tolcser |
Illustrator | Antonio Caparo |
ISBN | 0593696549 |
Publication Date | Jul 2, 2024 |
Publisher | G. P. Putnam's Sons for Young Readers |
Language | English |