The Coming Storm

A lively redheaded girl from Prince Edward Island who is not Anne of Green Gables

Here’s a delicious piece of Celtic-flavored historical fantasy complete with ghosts, a sea witch, magic spells, and a really frightening kelpie who roams the waterways and beaches.  But despite all the supernatural goings-on, this story is firmly anchored in our world, giving us a relatable protagonist in teenaged fiddler Beatrice “Beet” MacNeill, who is mourning the death of her best friend but also working to improve her musical skills for an upcoming performance with her dad at the village hall.  

Part ordinary-kid-caught-up-in-a-supernatural-world (as in the Rick Riordan Presents books), part affectionate story about 1950s life in small-town Atlantic Canada, this book is moreover a celebration of the power of music to assuage sorrow, give joy, build community, and perhaps even defeat the forces of evil.