In the remarkable, memorable middle-grade fantasy A Breath of Mischief by MarcyKate Connolly (Shadow Weaver), a girl and her best friend embark on an urgent trip to find the Wind.
"The Wind claims me as their daughter, their windling, heir to their estate in the clouds." The Wind is "the one constant" in Aria's life. The girl spends her days floating in a cloud in the sky, reading the books the Wind brings her, and playing with her friend Gwyn, a gryphling. One morning when Aria wakes, the castle is firmly on the ground and she can't access her own "somewhat magical" Wind powers: "The Wind is gone." With Gwyn's help, Aria sets out to find the Wind. Along the way, the friends find more otherlings--children who, like herself, are attached to elements--and more dangers than she knew the world held.
A Breath of Mischief is an inventive and magical take on the four elements: air, water, earth, and fire. While some plot points may feel familiar, Connolly's characters stand out as wholly original and individually inspiring. She brilliantly reimagines the elements as characters without trapping them in earthly forms, using gender-neutral pronouns to avoid any false characterizations. And Aria is a mystery herself--not quite human, not quite elemental. A Breath of Mischief is a delightful and exhilarating heroic quest. --Kyla Paterno, freelance reviewer