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Before Briony's stepmother died, she made sure Briony blamed herself for all the family's hardships. Now Briony has worn her guilt for so long it's become a second skin. She often escapes to the swamp, where she tells stories to the Old Ones, the spirits who haunt the marshes. But only witches can see the Old Ones, and in her village, witches are sentenced to death. Briony lives in fear her secret will be found out, even as she believes she deserves the worst kind of punishment.
Then Eldric comes along with his golden lion eyes and mane of tawny hair. He's as natural as the sun, and treats her as if she's extraordinary. And everything starts to change. As many secrets as Briony has been holding, there are secrets even she doesn't know.
"Starred Review. Filled with eccentric characters...and oddly beautiful language, this is a darkly beguiling fantasy. Ages 12–up." - Publishers Weekly
"Starred Review. Briony, hugely likable despite her dismal self-hatred, is devilishly smart and funny, and readers will root for her with every turn of the page." - Kirkus
"Starred Review. Briony's many mysteries and occasional sardonic wit make her a force to be reckoned with. Exquisite to the final word. Grades 8-12." - Booklist
This information about Chime was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Franny Billingsley lives in Highland Park, Illinois. Her middle-grade novel Well- Wished was a School Library Journal Best Book of the Year. And her next middle-grade novel The Folk Keeper received the Boston Globe-Horn Book award for fiction, was an ALA Notable, and a School Library Journal, Booklist, Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year and a Bulletin Blue Ribbon book. This is her first young adult novel.
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