Gottika — Helaine Becker

What is the most dangerous secret of all? For fifteen-year-old Dany, is it the shame that his once-vital mother now suffers mutely from "the staring sickness?" Or is it that Count Pol, the corrupt absolute ruler of Western Gottika, may be scouting the city clandestinely for teenage girls to kidnap? Could the worst secret be the mystery behind why all the kids in the Estat are only-children? Or could it be that Dany's father possesses the secret knowledge of how to bring clay to life, and transform it into a terrifying weapon - an all-powerful Gol? When Dany's father is framed for the brutal murder of Gottika's Princess Avivia, Dany is forced to confront all of these secrets. But that won't be enough. In order to save his father, he'll have to go still deeper. He'll have to uncover his own family's secret, one even darker and more disturbing than the rest. Gottika reimagines a powerful Jewish legend as a futuristic fantasy with a universal message.