We Are the Song — Catherine Bakewell

A lush and beautiful fantasy set in a world where music is magic and the fate of many thrones lies with one girl…

“Excellent.” -- Booklist
An Amazon #1 Children's Music Book at Release

Twelve-year-old Elissa has been raised in seclusion as a devotee of the Mother Goddess. She is a special child, a blessed child, a child who can sing miracles into being. Her voice can heal wounds, halt landslides, cure hunger -- and even end wars.
 
But there are those who would use her gift for darker things. And when Elissa finds herself the farthest from home she's ever been -- along with her vain and jealous music tutor, Lucio -- she will have to develop the judgment to decide who wants to use her song to heal… and who wants to use her song to hurt.  
 
In this astonishing debut -- perfect for music lovers -- Catherine Bakewell presents not only a wholly unique musical magic system, but a sumptuous baroque world filled with soaring basilicas, gilded palaces, dazzling food, and snow-piled wildernesses. It is a world both beautiful and treacherous, with a fiercely determined girl blazing brightly at its center. Can a lone voice change the world?
 
“Spellbinding.” -- The Horn Book
“Beguiling.” -- Publishers Weekly
“Unique.” -- BCCB
“Captivating.” -- School Library Connection
“Enthralling.” -- YA Books Central
“Alluring.” -- School Library Journal