The School Between Winter and Fairyland

A fresh and exciting twist on magical boarding schools, the well-loved Chosen One trope, and the nature of true heroism-from the author of The Language of Ghosts and Ember and the Ice Dragons. Perfect for fans of middle grade fantasies including the Serafina series by Robert Beatty and Neil Gaiman's Coraline. Twelve-year-old Autumn Malog is a servant at the enchanting Inglenook School, where young magicians study to become the king's future monster-hunters.
Along with her Gran and three too many older brothers, she works as a beastkeeper, tending to Inglenook's menagerie of terrifying monsters. But when she isn't mucking out the wyvern stalls or coaxing the resident boggart to behave, Autumn searches for clues about her twin brother's mysterious disappearance. Everyone else thinks he was devoured by the feared Hollow Dragon, but Autumn is convinced she's heard-and glimpsed-him calling to her from within the castle walls.
But who will believe a lowly servant?So when Cai Morrigan, the "Chosen One" prophesied to one day destroy the Hollow Dragon, comes to her for help, Autumn agrees on one condition: Together, they'll search for her brother and uncover the dark truth at the heart of enchanting Inglenook School once and for all. She's a servant searching for her lost brother. He's the Chosen One who needs her help. Can this unlikely pair uncover the school's dark secrets before it's too late? Brave Girl Protagonist: Meet Autumn Malog, a servant beastkeeper who spends her days tending to terrifying monsters but risks everything to find her missing twin brother, Winter.
The Chosen One Trope: Discover a new twist on a classic trope when Cai Morrigan, the boy prophesied to save the kingdom, is secretly terrified of the very dragons he's meant to fight. A School of Dark Secrets: Inglenook isn't just a school for magicians; it's a place hiding a terrible secret about its magic and what really happened to Autumn's brother. Twin Brother and Sister: A powerful story about the unbreakable bond between twins, and the courage it takes to never give up hope, even when everyone else has.