book details

Book: Back by Sunrise - A magical realism story (Eternal Light Book 1) by Justin Sloan

categories: Book, Fantasy, Birds, Magic Necklace, Children's Fantasy, Middle Grade Fantasy, Animals, Stories about Animals, Animal Transformation, Middle Grade Series, Eternal Light, Chapter Book, Magical Realism

Justin Sloan

about this book: A young girl learns that love and family are forever with the help of a magical necklace that transforms her into a bird.

Movie rights recently optioned!

Middle Grade/ Chapter Book

SYNOPSIS:

"Back by Sunrise" is the heartwarming tale of Brooke, the 8 year old-daughter of a military man who will not be returning from a war overseas. Brooke refuses to acknowledge this traumatic, life changing event, and instead begins to pull away from her mother and brother as she internalizes her emotions about the tragedy.

She finds a mysterious necklace within the knapsack of a doll given to her by her late father just before he passed, accompanied by a note reading, "Be back by sunrise." Her world is turned upside down when she puts the necklace on and is magically transformed into a bird at night.

At first Brooke thinks she can find a way to fly to heaven or somehow be reunited with her father, but soon she just wants to go home. Along the way she meets many charming characters, such as Roy, a bird that shows her the ropes, and Timmy, a mouse that reminds her of the importance of family. She encounters a few bad eggs as well. Take Trollay for instance, a carnivorous raven who is scheming to undermine Brooke's reunion with her family and take her necklace for himself with the help of his minion pigeons.

The adventures take a turn for the worse when Brooke fails to heed the note's warning and does not make it back to her room by sunrise. Being stuck as a bird is one thing, but Trollay manages to steal her necklace, leading to a series of events that force Brooke to make some very grownup decisions about what, and who, she truly wants to be.

In the end, "Back by Sunrise" illustrates a thoughtful coming of age story which shows how a child might interpret, and subsequently deal with, loss when tragedy suddenly strikes.