Parents' Guide to Seasparrow: Graceling Realm, Book 5

Readers who like deep dives into complex characters will be in awe of this fantasy that centers on the rocky recovery of a trauma survivor named Hava. She's the queen's spy and half-sister and has the magical talent -- or Grace -- of hiding in plain sight. She's been hiding so well her whole life that she's a stranger even to herself. She recalls a childhood of hiding from her abusive father and is forever lost in a sea of grief and anger. As Hava and her sister and a host of advisors and sailors cross the ocean from Winterkeep back to Monsea, she's soon lost in a real sea as well. And then on sheets of ice and the uncharted north. It's a survival tale as nail-bitingly compelling as the one in the first book, Graceling, and that's saying something. And because it's from the uber-creative mind of Kristin Cashore, it's a survival tale complete with telepathic foxes and hidden, partially translated plans for making the world's first bomb.

There are so many layers to Seasparrow it will take repeated readings to capture them all. There's a bittersweet connection between the fox Hava saves and Hava's relationship with her own mother. There's the connection Hava has with the chemist that she killed by accident, the one whose journals she painstakingly translates. There's the unwanted connection between Hava and Kera, the fox smuggler who shows Hava how to manage her own anger. There's the connection between Hava and Linny, a sailor who understands her pain because of his own past hurt. Their relationship is a revelation to Hava, if only she will let him really see her. Linny's patient and insightful presence fits in perfectly with the way Hava's own journey unfolds. The relationship builds slowly in the background while Hava works through so much heart-wrenching self-discovery in her own time. And in the end, both the relationship and Hava herself arrive at a wonderful place of healing and contentment. It's a lovely end to a deeply moving book.