Armstrong, Kate J. Nightbirds. Nancy Paulsen Books, 2023. 978-0-593-46327-7. $19.99. 480 p. Grades 9-12.

In the world of Simta, there are some women who possess magic, but it’s forbidden for them to use it. The exception lies with The Nightbirds, teenage girls who have the power to transfer their magic to another through a kiss. These girls are protected, and the price for a visit is high. In order to keep them safe, their identities are kept secret. Matilde, Aesa, and Sayer are known only by their Nightbird titles: The Goldfinch, The Ptarmigan, and The Nightingale. When Sayer is attacked by a religious zealot and The Nightbirds take a hiatus from seeing visitors, the girls decide to look for answers about the attacker themselves. When they start asking questions, they discover that not everything they have told about themselves and their magic is true. Although they can share their power, they can harness it as well. Their discoveries about themselves as other magical girls give them a new sense of identity and purpose, and each will have to decide whether they want to stay in their cage or fight for their freedom.

THOUGHTS: Nightbirds is a fantasy, but it’s a fantasy based on the fashion, lifestyle, and prohibition era of 1920s America. In this world, it’s not prohibition against alcohol consumption, but magic use. It’s a unique idea and blends aspects of history and fantasy together. Readers will enjoy the themes of friendship and female empowerment as the mysteries and secrets of this magical world unravel for three, protagonists who grew up in very different worlds. Nightbirds is only the beginning of their stories, and readers will be eager to pick up book two to see where their journeys take them.

Fantasy