The nightjar

Hewitt's darkly enchanting debut explores the ties of friendship and souls. Alice Wyndham's life is turned upside down when a dark stranger named Crowley approaches her to tell her that she is in great danger. He was right, and, as a result of an attempted kidnapping, Alice's friend Jen ends up in a coma. Devastated, Alice trusts Crowley when he says he can help her save Jen's life. He takes her to an alternate London called the Rookery where people with all sorts of magic stay. Alice's magic is that she is an aviarist and can see nightjars, invisible birds that guard a person's soul. When Jen went into a coma, her nightjar disappeared in the confusion, but if found, can awake her. Alice is still in danger, though, when a death cult starts to hunt her on their quest to annihilate all magical people. Journeying between two worlds, Alice is torn between trusting Crowley's intentions and getting deeper into danger to save her friend. The Nightjar is a magical adventure full of danger, betrayal, and devotion.--Emily Borsa Copyright 2010 Booklist

In Hewitt's superb, darkly charming debut, Londoner Alice Wyndham receives a mysterious gift and discovers that she is an exceedingly rare aviarist who can see each person's invisible nightjar, a bird that is a mirror of the soul that it guards. She can even hone the talent to perceive a person's emotions and memories. A man named Crowley tells Alice she's in danger, and an attempted kidnapping causes an accident that puts Alice's best friend, Jen, in a coma. To save her, Alice must reunite Jen with her nightjar, which fled in confusion when Jen was injured. Crowley offers to help Alice control her magic and whisks her off to the Rookery, an alternate "sister-city" of London, but they're threatened by the powerful Judicium, who want to destroy people like Alice, and the leader of a death cult. Hewitt makes it easy to picture the 1930s-infused Rookery, where magic comes as naturally as breathing, and readers will be fascinated by the story's magic, largely based in Finnish lore. It's a delight to explore the Rookery alongside Alice as she discovers her unusual powers and races to save her friend. The wildly imaginative Hewitt is a writer to watch. (Sept.)