Title: Kelcie Murphy and the Academy for the Unbreakable Arts | Author: Erika Lewis | Genre: Middle Grade | Publisher: Starscape  | Release Date: March 1, 2022 | ISBN: 9781250208262

Publisher’s Book Summary:

A 2023 Teacher Favorites Winner (6th-8th Grade) for the Children’s Book Council

Brimming with Celtic mythology, action, and danger, Erika Lewis’s Kelcie Murphy and the Academy for the Unbreakable Arts introduces readers to a new kind of magical school and a warrior who must choose which side of an epic battle her destiny will lie.

The Otherworld is at war. The Academy for the Unbreakable Arts trains warriors. And Kelcie Murphy―a foster child raised in the human world―is dying to attend. A place at AUA means meeting Scáthach, the legendary trainer of Celtic heroes. It means learning to fight with a sword. It means harnessing her hidden powers and―most importantly―finding out who her parents are, and why they abandoned her in Boston Harbor eight years ago.

When Kelcie tests into the school, she learns that she’s a Saiga, one of the most ancient beings in the Otherworld. Secretive, shunned, and possessed of imposing elemental powers, the Saiga are also kin to the Otherworld’s most infamous traitor.

But Kelcie is a survivor, and she’ll do whatever it takes to find her parents and her place in their world. Even if that means making a few enemies.

My Thoughts: Kelcie Murphy hasn’t had it easy. Moving from one foster home to another is all she has known since her parents abandoned her. But on a seemingly normal field trip on a boring school day, Kelcie’s world is thrown into chaos when she’s kidnapped by the one person she thought she could trust and wicked ice fairies transport her to a very different kind of school, The Academy for the Unbreakable Arts.

Tossed out of the human world and into a highly competitive, fantastical environment, Kelcie finds herself trying out for the academy through harsh trials. But Kelcie has nothing to lose since going back to her human life promises nothing but loneliness and unanswered questions. Slowly Kelcie begins to realise that she isn’t like the other students and has links to something far more powerful and much more evil than anything she’s faced to date. Can she find it in her heart to accept friendship and succeed at the academy so she can find her parents?

This action-packed middle grade novel brings readers into the dangerous world of heroes and myths, villains and wild elemental powers. Kelcie isn’t just new to the school, but to newfound skills that are stronger than anyone at AUA have experienced. It will take all her courage, patience and fortitude to confront the secrets that are uncovered in the first book of the Kelcie Murphy series.

Plus, check out this fantastic and FREE Kelcie Murphy activity kit including a Celtic Knot Drawing activity sheet and a Magical Map Making project.

About the Author: Erika Lewis is the author of the Kelcie Murphy Series from Starscape, The Color of Dragons from HarperTeen, Game of Shadows from Tor Books, Firebrand from Legendary Comics, and more, many of which have been published around the world.

She grew up in Virginia before going off to Tennessee for school. While at Vanderbilt University, studying Math and Theatre, she spent a semester abroad, visiting haunted ruins and magical forests that would forever spark her imagination and leave behind an insatiable need to travel.

An internship at CNN led to exciting years working in television, developing scripted and reality shows for various studios and networks. Then, one day, Erika knew it was time for her to write on her own, to build fantastical worlds that stayed with her after every return from a trip, and also to play her part in inspiring the next generation of readers and writers.

For more information, visit erikalewis.com

Social Links

Enter the giveaway below for your chance to win a signed hardcover set of all three books in the Kelcie Murphy series, including the final installment: Kelcie Murphy and the Race for the Reaper’s Key!

Click here for the entry form: https://www.thechildrensbookreview.com/the-kelcie-murphy-series-awareness-tour/. Good luck!

Tour Schedule

A sincere thank you to the author for a review copy of the book read in partnership with The Children’s Book Review.