The Silver Gate by Kristin Bailey

Elric knows his sister, Wynn, is different but she's honest, laughs a lot, and is good, sweet, and loving.  He's not sure why his mother and Wynn live in the woods by themselves while he lives with his dad, but he gets to visit and he's content with that.  However, when his mother dies, things fall to pieces.  His father wants to sell his sister to the castle as a servant.  He can't let that happen!

Katherine Tegen Books and Edelweiss allowed me to read this book for review (thank you).  It will be published January 10th.

I liked this book for several reasons.  Even though Wynn is different, Elric stands up for her and tries to protect her.  He's not sure if she's a changeling or not, but he knows he loves her.  She remembers a song her mother used to sing about a silver gate and about a fairy queen.  She wants to go there.  He thinks it's just a song and there's nothing magic about it.  One of the people he meets in his journey tells him that magic is there is you believe in it.  I believe in magic but it might not be as exciting as some of magic I read about...

When Elric says he wishes he had a pig so they could eat good again, Wynn asks about buying one at the next town.  A gang of boys are giving her trouble so he goes to save her.  When she finds him again, he's badly beaten and in the ditch.  She drags him out of the ditch and gets him to a safe place and then uses her dress for bandages and honey to help the cuts and bruises.  He wakes up sticky and crabby.  But the next man he meets tells him the honey stops infections and helps close up the wounds so she's not all wrong in her attempt at healing.

They have many more adventures, even end up stuck in a house with feral dogs outside.  It was really hard to get away from them!

This is written for middle graders but I had great fun reading it.  With all the action, the fairy queen, and the discovery at the end made a great story.  I can't wait to see this next one in this series...