CHILDREN OF THE BLACK GLASS, by Anthony Peckham, Atheneum/Caitlyn Dlouhy Books, March 7, 2023, Hardcover, $17.99 (ages 10-14)
Siblings set out to save their father and get caught between battling sorcerers in Children of the Black Glass, by Anthony Peckham.
In an unkind alternate past, somewhere between the Stone Age and a Metal Age, Tell and his sister Wren live in a small mountain village that makes its living off black glass mines and runs on brutal laws. When their father is blinded in a mining accident, the law dictates he has thirty days to regain his sight and be capable of working at the same level as before or be put to death.
Faced with this dire future, Tell and Wren make the forbidden treacherous journey to the legendary city of Halfway, halfway down the mountain, to trade their father’s haul of the valuable black glass for the medicine to cure him. The city, ruled by five powerful female sorcerers, at first dazzles the siblings. But beneath Halfway’s glittery surface seethes ambition, violence, prejudice, blackmail, and impending chaos.
Without knowing it, Tell and Wren have walked straight into a sorcerers’ coup. Over the next twelve days they must scramble first to save themselves, then their new friends, as allegiances shift and prejudices crack open to show who has true power. —Synopsis provided by Atheneum/Caitlyn Dlouhy Books
Children of the Black Glass is the first book in a nuanced new series from Anthony Peckham.
At the center of the story are Tell and Rumi, siblings who have already lost their mother and most likely will lose their father, too. With their family and way of life crumbling around them, the duo has no choice but to set out on their own. They figure they can handle it. They’ve been trained. They know the path. But everything goes wrong from the start.
Tell is the older of the siblings. He’s trained his entire life to take over from his father and maybe someday become chief. Wren is a sort of wild thing, able to cling to rocks as if she was born to do it. The two are inseparable. Their bond is a theme that runs throughout the book.
Peckham has done a fine job setting the scene and balancing the amount of fantasy with “real world.” He’s created a believable world that feels like you could walk into if given the chance.
That said, Children of the Black Glass is a darker middle-grade novel. Tell and Wren come from a harsh place, and Halfway isn’t any better, just different. The mood of the novel is echoed perfectly in its cover, which truly captures its essence. The overall tone and themes — death, violence, betrayal and revenge — are better suited to older, more mature middle readers, ages 10 and up.
Peckham gives readers a morally gray world with morally gray characters that’s compelling. There are moments of hope and happiness sprinkled here and there that feel natural and help lighten the tone. It’s a well-paced novel, and I look forward to reading it’s sequel.
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