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Paint a mural. Start a battle. Change the world.
Sierra Santiago planned an easy summer of making art and hanging out with her friends. But then a corpse crashes the first party of the season. Her stroke-ridden grandfather starts apologizing over and over. And when the murals in her neighborhood begin to weep real tears... Well, something more sinister than the usual Brooklyn ruckus is going on.
With the help of a fellow artist named Robbie, Sierra discovers shadowshaping, a thrilling magic that infuses ancestral spirits into paintings, music, and stories. But someone is killing the shadowshapers one by one - and the killer believes Sierra is hiding their greatest secret. Now she must unravel her family's past, take down the killer in the present, and save the future of shadowshaping for generations to come.
Full of a joyful, defiant spirit and writing as luscious as a Brooklyn summer night, Shadowshaper introduces a heroine and magic unlike anything else in fantasy fiction, and marks the YA debut of a bold new voice.
"Starred Review. What makes Older's story exceptional is the way Sierra belongs in her world, grounded in family, friends, and an awareness of both history and change." - Publishers Weekly
"Starred Review. Smart writing with a powerful message that never overwhelms the terrific storytelling." - Booklist
"Starred Review. Sometimes funny and sometimes striking, Older's comfortable prose seamlessly blends English and Spanish. Warm, strong, vernacular, dynamic—a must." - Kirkus
"Starred Review. Excellent diverse genre fiction in an appealing package. Grade 7 and up." - School Library Journal
"I love this book for the richness of its culture, the strength of the characters, the humor and the truth of its language." - Anika Noni Rose, star ofDreamgirls and The Princess and the Frog
"In Shadowshaper, Daniel José Older has created a YA novel that is exciting, absorbing, funny, creepy, and above all, absolutely fresh. One of the best YAs I've read this year." - Delia Sherman, author of The Freedom Maze
"Nothing is what it seems in Daniel José Older's dazzlingly inventive reimagined Brooklyn, where shadows turn to wraiths and graffiti comes alive. Funny, frightening, and always surprising, Shadowshaper is a spellbinding delight for readers of all ages." - Sarah McCarry, author of All Our Pretty Songs and About A Girl
This information about Shadowshaper 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.
Daniel José Older is a Brooklyn-based writer, editor, workshop facilitator, and composer. His band Ghost Star gigs regularly around New York, and you can find his thoughts on writing, read dispatches from his decade-long career as an NYC paramedic, and hear his music at ghoststar.net and @djolder.
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