Oddity

A middle-grade fantasy adventure powered by a kick-ass wild-west heroine and a collection of magical objects known as Oddities.

The daughter of a murdered physician vows to protect the magical Oddity he left behind – if only she knew what it was – in an alternate nineteenth century in which the United States is at war with Napoleon’s France. When her physician father is murdered, thirteen-year-old Clover Elkin embarks on a perilous mission through warring frontier territories to protect the one secret Oddity he left behind. And as she uncovers the truth about her parents and her past, Clover herself emerges as a powerful agent of history. A rich, startling, funny fantasy adventure, powered by an irresistible force-of-nature heroine; Clover Elkin is a born fighter – a heroine to rival Lyra Belacqua or True Grit’s Mattie Ross.

About the Author

Eli Brown is a Yaddo fellow with an MFA in creative writing from Mills College. His acclaimed adult novel, Cinnamon and Gunpowder, was a finalist for the California Book Prize, a San Francisco Public Library One-City One-Book selection, and an NPR Book Review Staff Pick. This is Eli's debut children's novel. He lives in California.

About the Illustrator

Jacket illustration by the American artist Teagan White. Interior illustrations by Karin Rytter, including specially commissioned linocuts of the Oddities themselves. Karin is a Scandinavian printmaker and illustrator living in Denmark.