about the book
The puritanical island village of De’Noran sits isolated on the edge of the encroaching Thickety, a dark and dangerous forest. The villagers, followers of the Path, abhor magic, and the most heinous crime of all is witchcraft. Kara lives there with her dysfunctional father and sickly brother. Six years ago, her mother was the last witch executed in the village. It happened in front of Kara’s eyes.
Since that horrible night, she and her family have been brutalized and shunned. She lives day to day trying to prove that she is not a witch like her mother. With her father half out of his head most of the time, she can barely keep them from starving.
Everything changes the day a strange cyclopean bird snatches the Kara’s amulet that once belonged to her mother. Chasing the bird into the forbidden Thickety, Kara discovers the forest is indeed evil and deadly; the sun cannot reach through the tree’s thick canopy, strange creatures lurk in every shadow, and magic is everywhere.
As she hunts for the bird, she ponders about her mother’s powers. Though Sordyr, a forest demon, rules the wood, her mom visited the Thickety often and remained unharmed. When Kara spots something in the fallen leaves, she is amazed to find a grimoire, a spell book…and it once belonged to her mother!
At first, the pages appear to be blank, but then Kara realizes that she can call animals, birds, and insects to her and command them to do whatever she pleases. Each time, a spell appears in the book. More and more, she uses the book to explore her magical powers, and the spells become increasingly addictive. All the while, she is terrified that someone will find out she is a witch.
As the grimoire triggers a series of terrifying events, she realizes magic is power and power kills. She could control the villagers, but it will come with an extremely high price. Is magic worth it all?
about the author
J.A. White was born on Staten Island in New York City, in a nice suburban neighborhood with squirrels and trees. It has to make you wonder how he grew up to write such fantastical and scary books as the Thickety series! But then, maybe it isn’t so surprising. He has always been a storyteller and tale writer. Even as a toddler, he named all the bears on his panda wallpaper and gave each of them distinct personalities, some very nice and cuddly, some not!
His “desire to avoid the real world only increased” as he grew older. In middle school he began writing epic stories about the kids in his class, culminating in his earliest masterpiece, “The Attack of the Killer Cheese Whiz.” His elementary school yearbook actually had him pegged as a future novelist!
Besides writing, Jerry is a full-time third-grade teacher. He also helps run a movie production company named Escape Goat Pictures. They make book trailers and “short silly films.” As far as hobbies, he has no time. He says he basically “sleeps from 3-6 am every other Tuesday.”
Jerry lives in New Jersey with his wife Yeeshing and three young sons Jack, Logan, and Colin. Colin often chases after his older screaming brothers pretending to be a flesh-eating zombie. This “age-appropriate healthy hobby” may just mean there might be another writer in the family!
Source :
Author website
Also by J.A. White:
The Thickety : The Whispering Trees (Thickety, Book 2). Katherine Tegen Books. March 2015.
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