This is the third book in this critically acclaimed trilogy, which Booklist described as ôshimmering with magic, myth, and romance. Dana has few memories of her mother, who disappeared when she was small. But she has always dreamed, despite her father's discouragement, that her mother would come back one day. When her dad decides to leave Ireland and take a job across the ocean in Canada, Dana is heartbroken. How can she leave her home and the only chance of seeing her mother again? She runs away, high into the fairy mountains of Ireland. Following ancient paths, with a mysterious wolf companion at her side, Dana encounters a world of tragic enchantment and fairy romance, and discovers a great secret about herself. With lush descriptions and rich Celtic lore, plus cameo appearances by characters from the previous books, this latest chronicle will satisfy fans of the series and entice new readers.

From Booklist

While exploring a forest near her Irish hometown, 12-year-old Dana hears a voice that leads her to a mysterious, ethereal woman. Dana learns that she has been chosen to carry an ominous message to the fairy High King. Her compensation for the dangerous mission? She will be reunited with her mother, who disappeared when Dana was a toddler. A shape-shifting, dark presence creeps through the fairy realm as Dana, helped and hindered by magical folk, races to accomplish her quest by the looming deadline. Meanwhile, in contemporary Ireland, eco-warriors stage a fierce protest to preserve the forest from developers. The overlap between worlds is a potent, complex theme that extends even to Dana herself: "Half kid, half teen. Betwixt and between." The political messages are urgent and overt in this third title in the Chronicles of Faerie series. The richly integrated, vivid fantasy scenes balance and support the strident calls for environmental protection and world peace, and the characters' deep, private passages through "layers of storied memory" will bring the issues home for readers. Engberg, Gillian
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

About the Author

Born in Ireland, O.R. Melling grew up in Toronto with her seven sisters and two brothers. At eighteen, she hitchhiked across Canada and down through California, seeking adventure. A year later, she was off to Malaysia and Borneo on a youth exchange program. That set her motto for life, “to travel hopefully.” She has a BA in philosophy and Celtic studies, and an MA medieval Irish history. To date, her books have been translated into German, Japanese, Chinese, Russian, Czech, and Slovenian. She lives in a small town by the Irish Sea with her teenage daughter, Findabhair, and her cat, Emma. Visit her Web site at www.ormelling.com.

The Light-Bearer's Daughter

Similar The Light-Bearer's Daughter