The Cerulean

by Amy Ewing

Overview

From New York Times bestselling author Amy Ewing (The Jewel) comes the exciting first book in a new fantasy duology. Rich, vivid world-building and ethereal magic combine in an epic tale that’s perfect for fans of Snow Like Ashes, These Broken Stars, or Magonia.

Sera Lighthaven has always felt as if she didn’t quite belong among her people, the Cerulean, who live in the City Above the Sky. She is curious about everything—especially the planet that her City is magically tethered to—and can’t stop questioning things. Sera has always longed for the day when the tether will finally break and the Cerulean can move to a new planet.

But when Sera is chosen as the sacrifice to break the tether, she feels betrayed by everything in which she’d been taught to trust. In order to save her City, Sera must end her own life.

But something goes wrong, and Sera survives, ending up on the planet below in a country called Kaolin. Sera has heard tales about the dangerous humans who live here, and she quickly learns that these dangers were not just stories.

Meanwhile, back in the City, all is not what it seems, and the life of every Cerulean may be in danger if Sera is not able to find a way home.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780062490032
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	01/29/2019
Sold by:	HARPERCOLLINS
Format:	eBook
Pages:	512
Sales rank:	557,686
File size:	1 MB
Age Range:	14 Years

About the Author

Amy Ewing earned her MFA in Writing for Children at the New School and received her BFA at New York University. The Jewel started off as a thesis project but became her debut novel, the first in a New York Times bestselling trilogy. The other books are The White Rose and The Black Key. She lives in New York City. Visit Amy online at www.amyewingbooks.com or on Twitter @AmyEwingBooks.

Editorial Reviews

Ewing’s confident and unique world building, appealing characters, and innumerable mysteries will entice readers. — ALA Booklist

“Fast pace and constant action make for an interesting read.” — Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books

“Part high fantasy, part mystery, with a whole lot of feminism, this inventively explores gender, nonconformity, self-acceptance, and family. Readers will be hooked. Give to fans of The Reader by Traci Chee or any epic fantasy lover ready for a rich new world and a complex but rewarding plot.” — School Library Journal

From the Publisher

Ewing’s confident and unique world building, appealing characters, and innumerable mysteries will entice readers.

ALA Booklist

Fast pace and constant action make for an interesting read.

Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books

Fast pace and constant action make for an interesting read.

Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

Fast pace and constant action make for an interesting read.

Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books

Winter 2018

Gr 7 Up—Sera lives in the City Above the Sky, an ethereal disc that travels across the universe and tethers itself to planets for a source of energy. The City is populated by silver-skinned, blue-haired women whose blood is magic. The women of the city marry in triads and procreate through parthenogenesis; males do not exist. Sera's city has been parked above its current planet for almost a century when the decision is made to move on. To break the tether that attaches the City, a sacrifice must be made. Sera, who has always been somewhat of an outcast, is chosen for this sacred task. When Sera's fall from the sky fails to break the tether, she miraculously survives. The protagonist is immediately captured and kept as a curiosity by the male-dominated society she finds in the world below. Meanwhile, mystery and intrigue unfold back in the City with a possibly corrupt High Priestess at the center of it all. Part high fantasy, part mystery, with a whole lot of feminism, this first volume in a duology inventively explores the themes of gender, nonconformity, self-acceptance, and family. While a little slow to start, the tale will grab readers as they get to the meat of the story, and they will be hooked. VERDICT Give to fans of The Reader by Traci Chee or any epic fantasy lover ready for a rich new world and a complex but rewarding plot.—Sara Brunkhorst, Indian Trails Public Library District, IL

School Library Journal

2018-10-15

An exploration of feminine power, autonomy, and sexuality.

Nearly 18, Sera has led a protected life in the City Above the Sky, an all-female society connected to a planet via a magic tether. Her race of Ceruleans possess blue hair, blood, and eyes and silvery skin. Sera is chosen to sacrifice herself by jumping off the edge of the City to break the tether so that her people can locate another planet with resources to draw upon. On the planet below, 18-year-old biracial human twins navigate another culture's social restrictions. Leo, who appreciates women and fashion, takes after their Pelagan mother with his blue eyes and light skin, while Agnes, who is attracted to women (in a homophobic culture) and loves science, resembles their Kaolin father with her brown skin and eyes. The two go on an expedition to collect another specimen for their ruthless father's popular theatrical freak shows and come across Sera, who never could muster the romantic feelings for girls her society expected, following her crash. Most citizens of Kaolin are brown-skinned, while the Pelagans are predominantly fair-skinned. In places, the text appears to unquestioningly privilege lighter complexions. In alternating narration, Ewing (The Black Key, 2016, etc.) provides intricate, well-explained worldbuilding, slowly unveiling a deeply buried mystery and leaving characters poised for new discoveries.

Readers will consider the invisible tethers that bind us to societal expectations and the connections we'd rather forge in their stead. (Fantasy. 14-18)

Kirkus Reviews