Waiting on Wednesday (#89)

"Waiting on" Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Breaking the Spine that spotlights upcoming releases.

Drift & Dragger by Kendall Kulper

Expected publication:  September 8th 2015 by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

As an orphan in the mid-nineteenth century in the insular whaling community of Prince Island, Mal has always been an outsider. He thought that changed once he became friends with Essie Roe, the daughter of the island’s mysterious water witch, until a magic spell gone wrong exposed what he really was: a “blank,” someone impervious to magic.

In a time when people rely on magic to protect their lives and livelihoods, blanks are seen as monstrous threats, due to the rumor that a blank can spread his invincibility to others. When Essie reveals his secret to the other islanders, Mal loses his best friend and his home and is cast out into the world.

A chance run-in with a charming stranger introduces him to the world of hunters, people who travel the world in search of dangerous—and valuable—magical artifacts. Mal teams up with Boone, and together they make a successful partnership, even as Boone remains wary of Mal’s blankness.

After Boone hears rumors that a strange and powerful dagger, thought to be lost forever, has reappeared, he tries to enlist Mal’s help in finding and retrieving it. Mal resists until Boone tells him the secret of the dagger: it can steal away a magical person’s ability, turning them ordinary and powerless. Mal knows just the person who deserves such a fate: Essie Roe, the girl who destroyed his life.

Crossing oceans and continents, Mal and Boone set off on a journey around the world in search of the dagger. Finding it means riches, fame—and revenge.

I loved Salt and Storm, so a prequel? Yes, please. 

What're you waiting on?