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Skin Hunger

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About The Book

Sadima lives in a world where magic has been banned, leaving poor villagers prey to fakes and charlatans. A "magician" stole her family's few valuables and left Sadima's mother to die on the day Sadima was born. But vestiges of magic are hidden in old rhymes and hearth tales and in people like Sadima, who conceals her silent communication with animals for fear of rejection and ridicule. When rumors of her gift reach Somiss, a young nobleman obsessed with restoring magic, he sends Franklin, his lifelong servant, to find her. Sadima's joy at sharing her secret becomes love for the man she shares it with. But Franklin's irrevocable bond to the brilliant and dangerous Somiss traps her, too, and she faces a heartbreaking decision.

Centuries later magic has been restored, but it is available only to the wealthy and is strictly controlled by wizards within a sequestered academy of magic. Hahp, the expendable second son of a rich merchant, is forced into the academy and finds himself paired with Gerrard, a peasant boy inexplicably admitted with nine sons of privilege and wealth. Only one of the ten students will graduate -- and the first academic requirement is survival.

Sadima's and Hahp's worlds are separated by generations, but their lives are connected in surprising and powerful ways in this brilliant first book of Kathleen Duey's dark, complex, and completely compelling trilogy.

About The Author

Photo Credit:

Kathleen Duey’s works include the middle grade American Diaries and Survivors series, as well as the well-reviewed chapter book series The Unicorn’s Secret and its companion series, The Faeries’ Promise. She is also the National Book Award–nominated author of Skin Hunger. She lives in Fallbrook, California.

Product Details

  • Publisher: Atheneum Books for Young Readers (September 30, 2008)
  • Length: 368 pages
  • ISBN13: 9780689840944
  • Ages: 12 - 99

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Raves and Reviews

"Beautifully written, fierce, and unforgettable." -- Holly Black, author of Tithe

Awards and Honors

  • National Book Award Finalist
  • Bank Street Best Books of the Year
  • Chicago Public Library's Best of the Best
  • Texas Tayshas High School Reading List
  • NYPL Best Books for Teens
  • ALA Popular Paperbacks for Young Adults Nominee

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More books from this author: Kathleen Duey

More books in this series: A Resurrection of Magic