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“With this riveting debut, Cashore has set the bar exceedingly high.”
-Publishers Weekly (starred review)
Graceling: A Stunning Debut in Teen Fiction
Graceling
To say that Kristin Cashore’s debut has made a splash in the world of teen fiction is an understatement: She has taken the reading world by storm. With four starred reviews in advance of publication, Graceling (Harcourt; October; $17 hardcover), is becoming one of the most talked-about books of the fall season.
With elegant, evocative prose and a cast of unforgettable characters, Kristin Cashore tells the story of Katsa, who has been able to kill a man with her bare hands since she was eight. She’s a Graceling, one of the rare people in her land born with an extreme skill. As niece of the king, she should be able to live a life of privilege, but Graced as she is with killing, she is forced to work as the king’s thug.
When she first meets Prince Po, Graced with combat skills, Katsa has no hint of how her life is about to change. She never expects to fall in love with Po. She never expects to learn a new truth about her own Grace-or about a terrible secret that lies hidden far away . . . a secret that could destroy all seven kingdoms with words alone.
Graceling plunges readers into mesmerizing world, a death-defying adventure, and a heart-racing romance.
Kristin Cashore received her master’s degree in children’s literature from Simmons College, where she was named a Virginia Haviland Scholar. She has written book reviews for The Horn Book Guide, and she has had articles published in The Looking Glass: An Online Children’s Literature Journal and Children’s Literature in Education. Graceling is her first book. She lives in Jacksonville, Florida. Read more about Kristin Cashore at her blog.
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Graceling
Kristin Cashore
October 2008 Ages 14 and up 978-0-15-206396-2 $17.00 hardcover
Harcourt Children’s Books
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company
ADVANCE PRAISE for Graceling
“Here’s a WOW of a book! Seeing half-wild Katsa learn humanity as she battles soldiers, storms, and her own obsessive nature-I HAD to know how it ended!”
-Tamora Pierce, author of the Circle of Magic series
“Katsa and Po are wonderful: They make me want to cheer. Due to a strong heroine, a supportive hero, political intrigue, and action throughout, this is a book I’ll share with my daughter.”
-Melissa Marr, author of Wicked Lovely
“I can’t remember when I last was this impressed by a new fantasy. Kristin Cashore’s voice is fresh and fluent…the end result is a story that you tear through so that you can immediately start again at the beginning and read it with the care it deserves. A truly spectacular novel.”
-Susan Hirschman, founder of Greenwillow Books
é”Katsa is an ideal adolescent heroine, simultaneously confident of her strengths yet unsure of her place in the world. Every character is crafted with the same meticulous devotion to human comprehensibility, making the villain all the more appalling in his understated, twisted madness. In a tale filled with graphic violence and subtle heartbreak, gentle passion and savage kindness, matter-of-fact heroics and bleak beauty, no defeat is ever total and no triumph comes without cost. Grace-full, in every sense.” -Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
é”An impressive first novel, this well crafted and rewarding fantasy will leave readers hoping for more.” -Booklist (starred review)
é”This is gorgeous storytelling: exciting, stirring, and accessible. Fantasy and romance readers will be thrilled.” -School Library Journal (starred review)
“I thought that I should let you know that I am totally in love with your writing style and your characters. O_O; While reading Graceling I just about died when Po was left behind on the mountain because in all honestly Po is my favorite character…and I love his Grace. There were parts of the book that left me craving more-as few book do recently; and others that made me cry or rejoice. It was both addicting and shocking at the same time.”
-Ashley, 16, St. Paul, MN
“The author beautifully weaves together social, moral, psychological, even political issues as she tells an unforgettable story of love, adventure and courage. . . . This is the first of a trilogy that I believe will be well-deserved in its popularity. Read it.”
-Leslie Reiner, Inkwood Books, Florida
