Query - The Aurora Witch

I have no idea what I’m doing and hate query letters

I am seeking representation for THE AURORA WITCH (85,000 words) upper middle grade fantasy will appeal to fans of the imaginative world of Greenwild: The World Behind the Door by Pari Thomson combined with the humor and emotional depth of Scarlet Morning by ND Stevenson. It will also appeal to adult readers who loved The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune.

The Grantham children have been raised by a scientist and understand there are certain things they never speak about: the loss of their Mom, their father’s work trips—and magic. Thirteen year old Millie is a parentified child who strives for perfection, all while quietly aching for her Mom.

Her life is turned upside down when she, Oliver, and Henry arrive at Juniper House—a magical sentient cottage that grows rooms like branches on a tree. Aunt Edith is unlike anyone Millie has ever met, while somehow reminding her of her Mom. She is enigmatic and playful, yet revered as the guardian of Whisper Hollow—a town of magical migrants displaced by obsidian magic, the dark force that consumes and destroys magic. Yet Millie begins to wonder how safe the town is when the town’s fortune teller is seen muttering about a fire before she vanishes. Then Kiko Akamizu is sighted—the former student who destroyed the magic school with obsidian flame.

Believing Kiko has returned to finish what she started, Millie and Oliver set out to find the truth behind the Aurora Witch—the one born with all twelve colors of magic to vanquish obsidian. Instead, they uncover mysteries surrounding both the town and their father, who purposefully hid magic from them. Millie’s anger flares a powerful magic inside her, fracturing her walls of order and perfection, and emboldening her to embrace her own destiny—no matter the cost.