Nettle

Gr 6 Up–A fairy tale-inspired changeling story. Nettle is a sheltered girl who has lived alone with her grandmother all her life. When her grandmother gets sick, Nettle makes a deal with a cruel faery king to complete three tasks if he will save her; until then, she must live in the dangerous faery realm. There is a whisp of a love triangle for Nettle with Ellion, a “shadow faery,” and Conor, a human stable hand. After completing two of her tasks, Nettle learns more of her own backstory and her relation to the faery realm. Nettle’s age is not mentioned in the story, although readers will assume she is in her middle to late teens. Readers won't know if Nettle has traveled to fairyland from the modern day or some day in the recent past. Hogan attempts to create a fairy tale–inspired story for teens without the hallmarks usually used to age up the genre, such as sex, drugs, violence, and moral ambiguity. Hand to readers who are too young for Holly Black and Sarah J. Maas but who want that style of story.