She glanced at her floating juju-trunks, strange in comparison. Ella could’ve sworn she felt it expand under her feet little by little to make sure everyone fit.ĭressed in all white, her fellow Level One trainees were doves ready to fly off with their marvel-valises. Other water-zeppelins peeked their heads above the water, dropping more families on the ever-growing platform. Plump star-lanterns drifted overhead like ginormous glowbugs. The late September heat clung to her skin. One moment Ella and her family were skimming across the Gulf of Mexico and the next they were in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, standing on the Stardust Pier, awaiting the arrival of the sky-ferries for the next leg of their journey. The ride to the Stardust Pier felt like a lightning flash. Read an exclusive excerpt of Clayton's magical new book before it hits shelves May 3 here: The Arcanum Training Institute for Marvelous and Uncanny Endeavors is definitely where you want to apply!” “'The Marvellers' deserves the highest compliment I can give a book: I want to live in this world,' Riordan says. 'You can stop looking at admissions brochures for all those other schools of magic.

On Instagram, Clayton calls the book 'my love letter to kids who thought there might be nothing magical about them because they didn’t show up in those big worlds everyone is always talking about.'Ĭlayton's got at least one very big champion in her book's corner: Rick Riordan, USA TODAY bestselling author of the Percy Jackson & the Olympians series. That mission is reflected in 'The Marvellers,' whose global school celebrates a wide range of cultures and different forms of magic.

When a dangerous criminal known as the Ace of Anarchy escapes prison and her mentor disappears, Ella quickly becomes a suspect and must work fast to clear her family's name and save her teacher before it's too late.Ĭlayton is COO of We Need Diverse Books, a nonprofit organization that advocates for greater diversity in the publishing industry and children's literature. Arcanum Training Institute draws Marvellers from around the world to practice their arts – say, for instance, bartering with Irish pixies or brewing elixirs. Eleven-year-old Ella Durand is the school's first Conjuror, and she discovers many at the school don't trust her 'unnatural' magic. That's the setting for her upcoming fantastical middle-grade YA book 'The Marvellers' (Henry Holt and Co., 336 pp., on sale May 3). Author Dhonielle Clayton ('The Belles,' 'Tiny Pretty Things') has just the remedy for escaping reality: a magic school in the sky.

If real life won't deliver, a book always will. We could all use a little more magic in our lives, especially now. Watch Video: Cynthia Erivo’s moment: new album, new children’s book

The marvellers dhonielle clayton