About this Event
ABOUT THE BOOKS
The Redwood Bargain by Markelle Grabo
I'm the fourth Redwood girl, and I mean to be the last.
Indentured servant Katrien longs to make amends after a difficult choice extended her cousin Helsa’s servitude with their lord of the manor. So when a dark creature in the forest known as The Redwood Man demands the lord’s youngest daughter as payment for saving his life, Katrien is eager to make her own bargain that will guarantee her cousin’s freedom—so long as she can successfully lie.
Katrien must fool The Redwood Man into believing she is the daughter he was promised, Lady Zaviera. Yet three girls have already lost their lives trying to pose as the young noblewoman, with the increasingly impatient forest lord seeing through each deception and exerting his wrath in return.
To ensure Katrien’s success where the girls before her have failed, Zaviera and her sisters teach her how to be the perfect imposter, even as The Redwood Man’s sentient vines threaten to consume the manor and its staff. Turning a kitchen maid into a proper lady is no simple task, and matters are complicated further as Katrien begins to fall for the tenderhearted lady she might die for. Caught between duty, desire, and Zaviera’s own blooming feelings, Katrien must decide if she’s truly willing to risk her life to right past wrongs and sacrifice herself for the girl she’s come to love.
Under a Carnivore Sky by Brianna Jett
I’m the only one left hunting the monster, the only one left with a chance of saving us all.
Raised in a town surrounded by a labyrinthian, man-eating swamp, Lili craves nothing more than to track down the monster lurking in its depths and K*ll it.
The monster’s curse claims the flesh and bone of every adult in town, stealing them away, piece by piece. For generations, people have tried to K*ll it or escape the town altogether, but every path out of town leads them right back in.
Caleb, a bookish boy with dreams of freedom, is hungry to escape. He thinks that with Lili’s help and knowledge of the swamp, he can make a map to freedom. And Lili hopes that with a better sense of its territory, she might finally find and K*ll the monster.
Together, they chart the swamp’s shifting terrain. Sharing in the danger and the beauty of the landscape sparks a friendship between them—and then something more. However, what they discover disrupts everything Lili thought she knew about the town, her father, the monster—even herself. The truth at the root of the curse could devour them all. And Lili must decide if risking her life to be the town’s savior is worth sacrificing her own chance of escape.
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Markelle Grabo retells the fairy tales that frustrate her, which, based on that guideline, could include nearly all of them. Her YA fantasy novels, Call Forth a Fox and The Redwood Bargain, are steeped in woodsy atmosphere and sapphic yearning. She earned her master’s degree in creative writing for children and young adults from Hamline University and lives in the Greater Chicago Area with her husband and two very fluffy cats.
Brianna Jett is a former journalist and graduate of the Vermont College of Fine Arts' Writing for Children and Young Adults MFA program. She lives in Chicago with her dog named Bug, and when she’s not writing books, you’ll probably find her photographing flowers. Under a Carnivore Sky is her debut novel in verse. You can connect with her online at briannajett.com.
Event Venue & Nearby Stays
Partners in Crime Bookshop, 4105 North Lincoln Avenue, Chicago, United States
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