Ellie has a secret: she hasn't grown in three years. Her shoes still fit. Her reflection never changes. And her mother's smile hides something she can't explain. When a glowing salamander named Spark leads her to a hidden cellar beneath their home, Ellie discovers an ancient hourglass-and the terrible truth behind her mother's magic. Every new moon, Marina performs a ritual that steals years from her daughter's future and transfers them to herself.
Time has been rewritten, trapping Ellie at twelve while her mother remains eternally young. As the next new moon approaches, Ellie must choose between freedom and forgiveness. Guided by Spark and a forgotten friend who remembers the girl she used to be, she races to reclaim her stolen life before her mother's spell becomes permanent. But breaking the magic means facing the cost of time itself-and deciding whether love can survive the truth.
The Age Keeper is a haunting contemporary fantasy about memory, loss, and the power of letting go. Blending the emotional depth of The Ocean at the End of the Lane with the mystery of Coraline and the heart of Bridge to Terabithia, it explores what happens when love refuses to let time move on.
Ellie has a secret: she hasn't grown in three years. Her shoes still fit. Her reflection never changes. And her mother's smile hides something she can't explain. When a glowing salamander named Spark leads her to a hidden cellar beneath their home, Ellie discovers an ancient hourglass-and the terrible truth behind her mother's magic. Every new moon, Marina performs a ritual that steals years from her daughter's future and transfers them to herself.
Time has been rewritten, trapping Ellie at twelve while her mother remains eternally young. As the next new moon approaches, Ellie must choose between freedom and forgiveness. Guided by Spark and a forgotten friend who remembers the girl she used to be, she races to reclaim her stolen life before her mother's spell becomes permanent. But breaking the magic means facing the cost of time itself-and deciding whether love can survive the truth.
The Age Keeper is a haunting contemporary fantasy about memory, loss, and the power of letting go. Blending the emotional depth of The Ocean at the End of the Lane with the mystery of Coraline and the heart of Bridge to Terabithia, it explores what happens when love refuses to let time move on.