• Age: 10 to 14
• Grade: 4 to 9

A thrilling new fantasy novel from award-winning author Arthur Slade!

Carmen is a student at Red Assassin School. She’s an expert at bladed weapons and poisons; and she’s desperate to finish at the top of the class, ahead of her twin brother. The students have been trained to hunt using giant black swans, but Carmen has discovered a dragon. All she has to do is get on his back.

One problem: he’s killed everyone who gets near him.

Then the Emperor declares war on assassins. And there might be a traitor among them.

Carmen wants to graduate. But the emperor wants her dead. Her classmates might, too. Graduation night is about to become the fight of her life.

In this heartstopping adventure by Arthur Slade, readers will root for Carmen — an Assassin with a heart of gold, determined to follow her dream against all odds.

The first volume in ARTHUR SLADE’s Hunchback Assignments series won the prestigious TD Canadian Children’s Literature Award, and the second volume, The Dark Deeps, was a finalist for the Canadian Library Association Book of the Year for Children Award and the CLA Young Adult Book Award. Slade is also the author of Dust, a national bestseller and the winner of the 2001 Governor General’s Award for Children’s Literature, the Mr. Christie’s Book Award and the Saskatchewan Book Award for Children’s Literature. His other books include Tribes, Megiddo’s Shadow, Jolted, Monsterology, Villainology and the Canadian Chills series. He lives in Saskatoon. Visit him online at arthurslade.com.

Arthur Slade's profile page

• Commended, TD Summer Reading Club, Top Recommended Read
• Commended, TD Summer Reading Club Selection
• Short-listed, OLA Red Maple Award, Fiction
• Commended, Best Books for Kids and Teens, Canadian Children's Book Centre, Starred Selection