Unseen Magic

Magic, this story insists, can only be spotted by those who know where to search. Aldermere is a town soaked in it, and for eleven-year-old Fin it is the first place she has ever felt secure. When she accidentally releases a shadow double that leaves destruction in its wake, Fin will do whatever it takes to protect the town she has come to love.

Aldermere has its own peculiar rules. A tea shop disappears if anyone tries to force their way inside. Crows must be fed, or they will rummage through your garbage. A bridge charges a toll, but nobody knows what it costs. Some residents even swear there are bigfoots roaming the woods. For Fin, the town is a fresh start, but she fears she will ruin it. She suspects she is the reason she and her mother have moved so many times.

When a presentation for the school science fair fills her with growing dread, Fin reaches for magic to calm her nerves. The spell takes a memory as payment, but Fin is willing to lose a few things from her past. She is certain this will be the last time she depends on magic. Things, however, do not go as planned. Rather than soothing her anxiety, Fin unleashes an evil doppelganger, and Aldermere is soon overrun with strange events that only she understands. To set things right, she must confront her fears, quite literally.

This middle grade debut from Emily Lloyd-Jones is an atmospheric story filled with magic and mischief, and it explores the courage it takes to face your fears and accept who you are. Fans of A Wish in the Dark and A Tangle of Knots will find it appealing, as will readers who enjoyed Anna Meriano's Love, Sugar, Magic series and Natalie Lloyd's A Snicker of Magic.