ISBN 13:978-0-15-206396-2. Hardback, $17.00.Book Awards:
2009 Amelia Bloomer list (recommended feminist literature for birth- age 18.
2008 Recommended Reading List, Locus Magazine
*Starred Review*, Kirkus Magazine
*Starred Review*, Publishers Weekly
*Starred Review*, School Library Journal
An Indies Choice Book Award Honor Book in the category of Best Indie Young Adult Buzz Book
An ALA Best Book for Young Adults
A Publisher's Weekly Best Book of the Year
A School Library Journal Best Book of 2008
Annotation:
Kasta is a young woman living in the seven kingdoms who has been graced with a special talent. She has the grace of killing. Her king uses this grace to his advantage throughout the kingdom. Eventually, Kasta tires of being the evil killing tool of her king and begins to rebel against him. When Kasta meets Po, she finally finds a friend, who is graced with a skill equal to hers. Together, they unravel a plot which has the potential to unravel all of the kingdoms.
Book Talk:
Kasta was born with the grace of killing. Her king sends her out to enforce his will whenever anyone dares to go against his wishes.
As Kasta begins to tire of the killing and maiming that she must do, she forms the council. The council is a group of people who are united to do what is right. They fight injustice and attempt to make life easier for the residents of the kingdoms.
The council has received word that the grandfather of King Leinid has been kidnapped and is being held in the castle of King Murgon. The council undertakes the task of stealing the grandfather out of the castle of King Murgon in the middle of the night, leaving no witnesses to their deed. Kasta has been charged with safely retreiving the grandfather from the dungeons, and bringing him back to the horses on the outside of the castle walls. Kasta unarms and knocks out all of the guards around the dungeons. After safely rescuing the grandfather, she begins the final, most dangerous part of the trek back to the safety of the horses.
As she neared the garden, "she was astonished when a man stepped out of the darkness and grabbed her from behind. He wrapped his arm around her chest and held a knife to her throat. He started to speak, but in an instant she had deadened his arm, wrenched the knife from his hand, and thrown the blade to the ground. She flung him forward, over her shoulders.
He landed on his feet.
Her mind raced. He was Graced, a fighter. That much was clear. And unless he had no feeling in the hand that had raked her chest, he knew she was a woman.
He turned back to face her, They eyed each other, warily, each no more than a shadow to the other. He spoke.
"I've heard of a lady with this particular Grace." His voice was gravelly and deep. There was a lilt to his words; it was not an accent she knew. She must learn who he was, so that she could know what to do with him.
"I can't think what that lady would be doing so far from home, running through the courtyard of King Murgon at midnight," he said. He shifted slightly, placed himself between her and the wall. He was taller than she was, and smooth in his movements, like a cat. Deceptively calm, ready to spring. A torch on the path nearby caught the glimmer of small gold hoops in his ears. And his face was unbearded, like a Lienid.
She shifted and swayed, her body ready, like his. She didn't have much time to decide. He knew who she was. But if he was Lienid, she didn't want to kill him." (pages 12-13)
What Kasta decides to do next will affect the future of all seven kingdoms. The kidnapping of the Leinid grandfather exposes a secret so terrible, so horrifying that it has the potential to destroy all seven kingdoms.
Author Website: http://kristincashore.blogspot.com/
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