First published 2007
Saaski grows up as an outsider in her village, taunted and feared for being different. She finds peace only on the moor, where she plays haunting melodies on her bagpipes. The villagers don't know what Saaski herself has forgotten: she is Moql, a half-human, half-Moorfolk child who was banished from the Folk's magical realm because she couldn't shape-shift or vanish like the others. The Folk sent her to live among humans, swapping her for a human baby. As Saaski matures, fragments of her buried memories return. She remembers her true nature and the terrible exchange that brought her to the human world. Her human emotions grow stronger, and she feels deep love for Da and Mumma, the couple who raised her as their own. Saaski realizes the Folk committed a grave injustice by stealing their real child. She decides she must return their baby to them, even though it means venturing back to the magical world that cast her out. The journey will test everything she has learned about belonging, sacrifice, and what it means to choose between two families.
Genres: fantasy, magical-realism, folklore, fairy-tale-retellings
Vibes: atmospheric, emotional, lyrical, whimsical
Tropes: fish-out-of-water, found-family
Setting: Moor, Folk's Magical Realm
256 pages · Paperback · Aladdin Paperbacks