From the New York Times bestselling author of the Last Magician series comes a “searing and satisfying” (Kirkus Reviews) middle grade debut steeped in magical realism about a bird-loving boy who moves to the countryside where he encounters dangerous creatures invading through a rip in the sky.
Xavier T. Fletcher is an Odd Duck. At least, that’s what everyone in his sleepy little suburb seems to think. Luckily, birds happen to be the aspiring naturalist’s favorite things, so he doesn’t mind the label quite as much as you might expect.
But when Xavier’s father loses his job, everything changes. His family is forced to move to his Nana Susan’s farm. There, he meets Clementine, a strange, messy girl who doesn’t see him as an Odd Duck at all. Too bad she has the unfortunate habit of using her slingshot to hunt the birds he loves. Xavier’s not sure what to think when Clem assures him that they aren’t really birds. He’s even less sure when he discovers that Clem isn’t lying.
The bird-like creatures come from the Rend, a tear in the sky between our world and the Nother’s, and the objects they carry in their beaks from that cold, dark place are dangerous. It’s up to Xavier and Clem to find a way to keep the creatures out of our world. But how can he protect the Rend when he suspects Clem hasn’t told him the whole truth about what she’s doing?