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The sand warrior
2017
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A debut entry in a groundbreaking sci-fi fantasy adventure series depicts five imperiled worlds that will be rendered extinct unless five ancient and mysterious beacons can be lit in the wake of erupting wars during which three unlikely heroes make surprising discoveries about their homes and themselves. Simultaneous and eBook. - (Baker & Taylor)

R. J. Palacio, #1 New York Times bestselling author of WONDER, hails this adventure series as “Mind-blowingly beautiful. . . . A must-read.”

Think Star Wars meets Avatar: The Last Airbender!

 
The Five Worlds are on the brink of extinction unless five ancient and mysterious beacons are lit. When war erupts, three unlikely heroes will discover there’s more to themselves—and more to their worlds—than meets the eye. . . .
 
   • Oona Lee, the clumsiest student at the Sand Dancer Academy, is a fighter with a destiny bigger than she could ever imagine.
 
   • An Tzu, a boy from the poorest slums, has a surprising gift and a knack for getting out of sticky situations.
 
   • Jax Amboy is the star athlete who is beloved by an entire galaxy, but what good is that when he has no real friends?
 
When these three kids are forced to team up on an epic quest, it will take not one, not two, but 5 WORLDS to contain all the magic and adventure!
 
"A magical journey, as fun as it is beautiful!” Kazu Kibuishi, #1 New York Times bestselling creator of AMULET

"Bang-zoom . . . a series that promises to be epic."—The New York Times

“This stellar team has created a gorgeous and entrancing world like no other!” Noelle Stevenson, New York Times bestselling author of Nimona
 
“Epic action, adventure, and mystery will draw you in, but the heartfelt characters and their seemingly impossible journey will keep you turning the pages.” —Lisa Yee, author of the DC Super Hero Girls™ series - (Random House, Inc.)

Author Biography

MARK SIEGEL has written and illustrated several award-winning picture books and graphic novels, including the New York Times bestseller Sailor Twain, or the Mermaid in the Hudson. He is also the founder and editorial director of First Second Books. He lives with his family in New York. Follow Mark on Tumblr at @marksiegel and the 5 Worlds team on Twitter at @5WorldsTeam.
 
ALEXIS SIEGEL is a writer and translator based in London, England. He has translated a number of bestselling graphic novels, including Joann Sfar’s The Rabbi’s Cat, Pénélope Bagleu’s Exquisite Corpse, and Gene Luen Yang’s American Born Chinese (into French).
 
XANTHE BOUMA is an illustrator based in Southern California. When not working on picture books, fashion illustration, and comics, Xanthe enjoys soaking up the beachside sun. Follow Xanthe on Tumblr at @yumbles and on Twitter at @xoxobouma.
 
MATT ROCKEFELLER is an illustrator and comic book artist from Tucson, Arizona. His work has appeared in a variety of formats, including book covers, picture books, and animation. Matt lives in New York City. Follow him on Tumblr at @mrockefeller and on Twitter at @mcrockefeller.
 
BOYA SUN is an illustrator and co-author of the graphic novel Chasma Knights. Originally from China, Boya has traveled from Canada to the United States and now resides in the charming city of Baltimore. Follow Boya on Tumblr at @boyasun and on Twitter at @boyaboyasun. - (Random House, Inc.)

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Trade Reviews

Booklist Reviews

*Starred Review* Oona is lucky to have grown up in the relative luxury of Sand Dancer Academy, though she's clumsy and the last person anyone would expect to have any special powers. An Tzu ekes out a meager life in the slums surrounding the academy, and when Toki rebels from one of the moons making up the five worlds attack the main power station, he and Oona—along with Jax Amboy, an athlete with a serious secret—find themselves unexpectedly at the center of the conflict. Together, they navigate the city under siege, flee Toki forces curiously insistent on capturing Oona, and try to make sense of some enigmatic clues they discover along the way. The Siegels' immersive series starter drops readers right into the midst of its fully fleshed-out world, a multiplanet system with simmering conflicts that might look awfully familiar to contemporary readers. When those conflicts come to a head, the disarray in the city is terrifying, which only amplifies the suspense of Oona, An Tzu, and Jax's quest. Bouma, Matt Rockefeller, and Boya Sun's richly detailed panels, filled with fluid shapes, swirling sand, and clearly depicted action, imbue the narrative with vivid, compelling atmosphere, while their figures are refreshingly varied in size, shape, and skin tone. With sensitive writing, gorgeous artwork, and a riveting plot, this is a series to keep an eye on. Copyright 2017 Booklist Reviews.

Horn Book Guide Reviews

In this sci-fi/fantasy series-opener, three kids--a sand dancer with a missing sister, a homeless orphan, and a celebrity starball player--band together after a neighboring planet attacks their home. This sweeping graphic-novel saga features inventive world-building, with history, mythology, and traditions naturally integrated into the narrative. The nuanced panel illustrations help advance the complex plot and deepen readers' understanding of the intriguing, dynamic characters. Copyright 2017 Horn Book Guide Reviews.

Horn Book Magazine Reviews

"Our worlds will die unless a sand warrior can rise up and light those beacons." In this epic sci-fi/fantasy series opener, three kids from different backgrounds band together after a neighboring planet launches an unprovoked attack on their home planet, Mon Domani. Oona Lee is an unconfident sand dancer, raised with other trainees in relative privilege in the capital city's Sand Castle. The invasion occurs as Oona embarks on a search for her runaway sister--a gifted sand dancer who had been Mon Domani's hope for survival before mysteriously disappearing seven years earlier. Escaping the wreckage of a crashed sky ship, Oona saves orphan An Tzu, a part-vegetal homeless boy living in the slums, and Jax Amboy, a beloved celebrity starball player. The universe's looming environmental crisis has contributed to extreme shortages, economic inequities, and disease; Oona is convinced that finding her sister is the key to averting a planetary catastrophe. This sweeping graphic-novel saga features inventive world-building, with history, mythology, and traditions naturally integrated into the narrative. The nuanced panel illustrations help advance the complex plot and deepen readers' understanding of the intriguing, dynamic characters (though some smaller panels are crowded). The installment ends triumphantly and tantalizingly; readers will eagerly await book two. kitty flynn Copyright 2017 Horn Book Magazine Reviews.

Kirkus Reviews

A sudden attack on the world of Mon Domani and its inhabited moons drives a young dancer, a street urchin, and an illegal android together.Many pages are crowded with sequential panels that are too small to fit the dialogue balloons or convey the hot action discernibly, but the overall plotline is easy enough to follow. Though generally mocked as a poor student of sand dancing—a psychokinetic art that uses hand and body movements to conjure solid "aniforms" from mystic vapors—next to her vanished big sister, Jessa, Oona Lee finds her powers growing as mysterious forces work to prevent the relighting of giant, long-dark Beacons that may stave off the growing environmental instability that is threatening all five worlds. With but little time to address the crisis by learning how to dance up a mighty Sand Warrior aniform and rediscover the lost technique of Beacon lighting, Oona is plunged into a running battle with minions of the Mimic, an ancient shape-changing nem esis. The three illustrators work seamlessly together to place Oona, a thick-bodied but graceful, pale-skinned strawberry blonde, in exotic, elaborately envisioned settings and surround her with a notably variegated cast of green-, blue-, brown-, black-, and pink-skinned allies and adversaries. The climax features a shocking revelation but leaves one Beacon lit with four to go: stay tuned. A headlong, if visually busy, opener for what promises to be a rare adventure. (Graphic science fiction. 10-13) Copyright Kirkus 2017 Kirkus/BPI Communications. All rights reserved.

Publishers Weekly Reviews

In a dazzling interplanetary fantasy from the Siegel Brothers, artists Bouma, Rockefeller, and Sun bring to life the cultures, customs, and creatures of a lively new world that will easily appeal to fans of Naruto or Avatar: The Last Airbender. Oona Lee's older sister, Jessa, was their planet's most promising sand dancer before she disappeared; awkward Oona can't even control the sand figures she summons. Their planet, Mon Domani, is beset by cascading environmental crises, and Oona and her classmates are meant to help light an ancient beacon that may bring the galaxy back into balance. But Toki, a rival moon, chooses this moment to attack. In the chaos, Oona finds two allies—An Tzu, a fiercely loyal thief from the planet's slums, and Jax Amboy, a sports superstar—who recognize gifts in Oona that she doesn't see. Explosions, attacks, and evildoing are relieved by neatly timed interludes in tranquil settings. The main characters share an unglamorous, pre- adolescent look, and the authors seize the opportunity to explore issues of race, class, and scarcity. Readers will be all too ready for the planned subsequent books. Ages 8–12. (May)

Copyright 2017 Publisher Weekly.

School Library Journal Reviews

Gr 3–5—Oona Lee is a less than successful sand dancer. She can't always control the creatures, called aniforms, that she creates from sand, and others make fun of her. As the plot unfolds, readers discover that Oona Lee lives in the Five Worlds, a galaxy of five planets populated by various species and races, and unless the five ancient beacons are lit, the worlds may be in danger. When Oona meets up with a poor boy named An Tzu and a famous athlete named Jax Amboy, the three of them realize that they might be able to light the beacons and change the destiny of the Five Worlds. Adorable, cartoonish illustrations bring color and life to this action-packed story that's reminiscent of the animated TV series Avatar: The Last Airbender. With lots of characters, backstories, and settings, this is a sweeping narrative, and readers may need time to absorb it all. VERDICT For thoughtful fans of fantasy, friendship, and mystical stories.—Andrea Lipinski, New York Public Library

Copyright 2017 School Library Journal.

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