• Age: 12 to 18
• Grade: 7 to 12

Erin Bow's acclaimed, award-winning fantasy novel reissued in paperback!

Plain Kate lives in a world of superstitions and curses, where a song can heal a wound and a shadow can work deep magic. When Kate's village falls on hard times — crops fail, and even Kate's father falls victim to a deadly fever — the townspeople look for someone to blame, and their eyes fall on Kate.

Enter Linay, a stranger with a proposition: In exchange for her shadow, he'll give Kate the means to escape the town that seems set to burn her, and what's more, he'll grant her heart's wish. It's a chance for her to start over, to find a home, a family, a place to belong. But Kate soon realizes that she can't live shadowless forever — and that Linay's designs are darker than she ever dreamed.

Erin Bow is the author of The Scorpion Rules, which received three starred reviews and was a Kirkus Reviews Best Book of the Year and it’s sequel, The Swan Riders, which received two starred reviews. She also wrote the acclaimed Russian-flavored fantasy Plain Kate, which received two starred reviews and was a YALSA Best Book of the Year, and the terrifying YA ghost story Sorrow’s Knot, which received five starred reviews and was a Kirkus Reviews Best Book of the Year. Visit her at ErinBow.com.

Erin Bow's profile page

• Short-listed, Rocky Mountain Book Award (Alberta Children's Choice)
• Short-listed, Canadian Library Association Book of the Year For Children
• Winner, TD Canadian Children's Literature Award
• Short-listed, Sunburst Award, Young Adult category

Praise for Plain Kate:

TD Canadian Children's Literature Award, 2011YALSA Best Fiction for Young Adults, 2010Nominee, CLA Book of the Year for Children Award, 2011Nominee, Sunburst Award, Young Adult category, 2011Nominee, Rocky Mountain Book Award, 2012

*"Original and sometimes disturbing,Plain Kateis a compelling story of dark magic and a remarkable debut by a talented writer." — Quill & Quire, starred review

"Beautiful and haunting, tragic and lovely, this is a book that is as exquisite as it is disquieting. . . In simple but evocative prose, [Erin Bow] creates a fully realized world in which her story delicately unfolds with a fairytale quality that will linger with readers." — Canadian Children's Book News

Plain Kate

“My name is Linay and I grant wishes.” And so Plain Kate, against her better judgement, gives her shadow to this pale, sinister stranger — trades it to him for her heart’s wish. With rumours of witchcraft running rampant through her village, she flees the ugly suspicions of her neighbours. Unfortunately, with sickness and starvation and the constant need to find a scapegoat, Kate seems destined to be continually accused of being a witch, even after she thinks she has found a new home with the gypsy-like Roamers. When they too fall victim to their fears, she nearly dies as a result.

The one who ultimately saves her is Linay himself. He has secrets and deadly schemes and needs her to bring his plans to fruition. When Kate realizes what exactly Linay has planned and how she has unwittingly helped him, she knows that she must find a way to stop him. If he commits the terrible act of sacrifice and vengeance that he has set his sights upon, the city of Lov and all who are in it will be destroyed… by the ghost and the shadow.

Beautiful and haunting, tragic and lovely, this is a book that is as exquisite as it is disquieting. Author Erin Bow spins a pleasing tale of magic and heartbreak in this historical fantasy in which one girl learns a lifetime’s worth of lessons about home and family, loss and love, and forgiveness and letting go. In simple but evocative prose, she creates a fully realized world in which her story delicately unfolds with a fairytale quality that will linger with readers.

Loved this!

by kelseya

I loved this book! Older children and young teens would definitely like this, but it's smart enough for adults too. Fantastic.