The Ugly Girl — David Nix

For as long as 18-year-old Crissa can remember, people have locked her away - some well-meaning and some most definitely not! First her parents, who hid her unusual face from the prying eyes of strangers, and then a violent man who murdered her mother and stole the girl for display in his traveling circus. Six years later, crowds come by thousands to stare at Crissa's strange face and whisper terrible things about her. How odd she looks. How bizarrely she behaves. And worst of all, how much she resembles the brutish Humans who died out long before. But mostly they come to hear her do what no other can do. Sing!

In a ‘what-if' world where prehistoric Humans fell extinct and Neanderthals inherited the earth, Crissa is like no other. Imprisoned by the brutal circus master, Tal-Bern, Crissa serves the glory of his circus. Every night she faces hostile crowds who marvel at her disturbing strangeness. And every night she stuns them with passionate singing before returning to a dank cage. Crushed by the dismal isolation of standing apart, her circumstances grow darker. She is marked for death, sold by Tal-Bern to the highest bidder for sacrifice during the bloodthirsty Rite of Long Moon â€" which is fast approaching!

Though all seems lost, the shuttered window to her future opens when one night she spies a tall young man in shadows beyond the crowd â€" a man with a face like hers! The incident sets in motion a chain of events that leaves the girl running for her life. Crissa's headlong flight carries her toward the mysteries of a murky past, her Human face, and the wonderment of love and belonging. If only Tal-Bern doesn't destroy her first!

Crissa's observant narrative drives a story that explores the burden of exclusion, the power of kindness, and what it means to be human.