• Age: 7 to 12
• Grade: 9 to 12

In a near future dominated by institutions, technology, and government control, children are raised in state homes and have no concept of family, with the exception of Terran and his younger sister, Brooke. Together with their friends, Taylor and Simon, they often steal from the local market to subsidize their diet.

Running from the authorities after a raid goes wrong and looking for a place to hide, Terran is drawn to a vibrant green glow behind a crumbling city wall. It’s an archway with a small opening that has fallen away, like a window into a different world—the world of the Beigfur. The Beigfur once shared the earth with humans, but now exist in a parallel universe where they have learned to live in harmony with nature.

Centuries before, the Beigfur used the last of their technology to place a glamour between the worlds to protect themselves from the destructive ways of Man. Climbing through the archway, Terran, Brooke, Taylor, and Simon inadvertently tumble into The Meadowlands, where an unexpected, life-changing adventure begins.

Speaking to the confusion of the modern era, The Meadowlands explores society’s impact on nature and the environment, the importance of family, and the challenges of coming of age in a world of technology and isolation.

Kate Kelly has had a love affair with books her entire life. Writing came in fits and starts, and she didn’t take it seriously until her forties. Now she can’t get along without it. She finaled in the RWA Golden Heart contest, 2001, and won the Daphne du Maurier (unpubbed) 2006. She has the good fortune to live on the east coast of Canada with her husband. She writes, grows herbs and perennials and sails when the wind blows her way.

Kate Kelly's profile page

"Kelly’s writing style is poetic and lyrical. Her images of nature are redolent with richness and texture. She explores juxtaposed themes of prejudice and empathy, of conflict and resolution, and of urban decay and rural environmentalism. The Meadowlands is an enchanting story reminiscent of Lewis’s The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings. I highly recommend it." —Collett Tracey, PhD, Professor of Canadian Literature, Carleton University