Plain Kate

About this book

Erin Bow's acclaimed, award-winning fantasy novel reissued in paperback!

Plain Kate lives in a world of superstitions and curses, where a song can heal a wound and a shadow can work deep magic. When Kate's village falls on hard times — crops fail, and even Kate's father falls victim to a deadly fever — the townspeople look for someone to blame, and their eyes fall on Kate.

Enter Linay, a stranger with a proposition: In exchange for her shadow, he'll give Kate the means to escape the town that seems set to burn her, and what's more, he'll grant her heart's wish. It's a chance for her to start over, to find a home, a family, a place to belong. But Kate soon realizes that she can't live shadowless forever — and that Linay's designs are darker than she ever dreamed.

Reviews

Praise for Plain Kate:

TD Canadian Children's Literature Award, 2011

YALSA Best Fiction for Young Adults, 2010

Nominee, CLA Book of the Year for Children Award, 2011

Nominee, Sunburst Award, Young Adult category, 2011

Nominee, Rocky Mountain Book Award, 2012

*"Original and sometimes disturbing,Plain Kateis a compelling story of dark magic and a remarkable debut by a talented writer." — Quill & Quire, starred review

"Beautiful and haunting, tragic and lovely, this is a book that is as exquisite as it is disquieting. . . In simple but evocative prose, [Erin Bow] creates a fully realized world in which her story delicately unfolds with a fairytale quality that will linger with readers." — Canadian Children's Book News