For Ages
9 to 12

One pale wooden girl stands on the shore of Black Sand Bay, where the sea meets the sky and the wind meets the water. But Snowbone knows that she and her wooden friends can't stay here forever. Something is happening deep within the forest. Something—someone—that must be stopped. Determined to save the Ashenpeakers from a dark destiny, Snowbone leads her gang of wooden tiddlins on a perilous chase—on the heels of human slave traders. They encounter feathered flying machines, a mystifying ancient prophecy, a looming volcano, and hungry cannibals. Snowbone, strong and courageous (and a bit stubborn), urges them on, while learning what it means to be a good leader.In a companion novel to Barkbelly, Cat Weatherill weaves another magical tale about the world of Ashenpeake and its lovable wooden heroes.

An Excerpt fromSnowbone

Chapter 1

The galleon sailed through the afternoon, alone on the butterfly-blue ocean. Only she wasn’t alone. Not anymore. Because the strange ship that had been following her for days, lying low on the horizon like a great, gray wolf, was coming closer.

“PIRATES!” The lookout shouted so loudly, his teeth rattled. “PIRATES! PORTSIDE! GAINING FAST!”

The first mate stormed to the quarterdeck, knocking sailors down like bowling pins. “Cap’n?” he said breathlessly. “What’ll it be?”

Captain Kempe, gazing through his telescope, seemed unconcerned by the turn of events. While his crew crumbled around him, he stood firm. Calm, unruffled, handsome as ever. But cold, cold fear had gripped him. He could feel it turning in his belly like a living thing.

“Cap’n?” The first mate watched a tiny muscle, tick-tick-ticking on the captain’s neck.

Captain Kempe gazed on. The pirate ship was a brig. They couldn’t outrace her. But they could try.

He snapped the telescope shut. “Let’s show them what we’re made of,” he said. “All the speed we can muster, Flynn, straight away.”

“Aye, aye, Cap’n.”

“And, Flynn, prepare the cannons.