Location via proxy:   [ UP ]  
[Report a bug]   [Manage cookies]                
Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    From $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Wicked Nix
    Wicked Nix
    Wicked Nix
    Ebook112 pages1 hour

    Wicked Nix

    By Lena Coakley and Jaime Zollars

    4.5/5

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    A visually stunning, middle-grade classic in the making about Wicked Nix, the foulest of the fairies
     
    Mischievous woodland fairy Nix is up to no good. His beloved fairy queen has gone away, leaving him with a very important job: He must protect the forest from a most dangerous enemy—humans.
               When a determined invader trespasses on his territory, Nix’s skills are put to the test as he invents several wicked tricks to chase the sorry fellow away. But when his efforts don’t go quite according to plan, it becomes clear that this intruder—and this sprite—may not be at all what they seem.
               This gorgeous new fairytale by acclaimed author Lena Coakley, with illustrations by rising illustration star Jaime Zollars, explores the timeless bonds of family and the joy of finding home in unexpected places.

    “Wicked Nix is like any other fairy food—it is delightful; it will cut you to the core. With humor and heartbreak, devastating loss and the hope of connection, Wicked Nix is a meditation on the lies we tell ourselves to protect ourselves, and the unexpected ways we might build a family. A sharp, startling, wondrous story.â€?
    —Kelly Barnhill, Newbery medalist for The Girl Who Drank the Moon

    “Sheer delight.â€? —Kathy Stinson, author of Red Is Best and The Man with the Violin
     “Wicked Nix is a rare and enchanting book. Equal parts mischievous and poignant—this story is destined to linger in the hearts of all readers lucky enough to discover its magic. Easily the best fairy story I’ve read in years.â€? —Jonathan Auxier, NYT bestselling author of The Night Gardener
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherABRAMS
    Release dateOct 9, 2018
    ISBN9781683352464
    Author

    Lena Coakley

    LENA COAKLEY was born in Milford, Connecticut, and grew up on Long Island. After studying writing at Sarah Lawrence College, she moved to Toronto. She is the author of the acclaimed fantasy novel Witchlanders, winner of the SCBWI Crystal Kite Award, as well as the picture books On the Night of the Comet and Mrs. Goodhearth and the Gargoyle. The former administrative director for the Canadian Society of Children’s Authors, Illustrators and Performers, Oakley is now a full-time writer.

    Related to Wicked Nix

    Related ebooks

    Children's Imagination & Play For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • UNLIMITED

      Shannon Chakraborty

      Feb 22, 2023

      WHEN YOU’RE BUSY, SOMETIMES ALL you want to do is take some time for yourself. This was the situation facing Shannon Chakraborty a few years back. Trying to find a literary agent as an unpublished novelist at a point in her life when she was also a n

      3 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      GHOST In The HOUSE

      Oct 1, 2021

      GHOST In The HOUSE
      7 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Small Bugs Big Sounds

      Nov 1, 2021

      Small Bugs Big Sounds
      4 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      The Girl Who Fell Beneath The Sea

      Feb 23, 2022

      RELEASED OUT NOW! 336 pages | Hardback/ebook/audiobook Author Axie Oh Publisher Hodder & Stoughton The Korean tradition of telling folk stories goes back thousands of years. One well-known story, “The Tale Of Shim Cheong”, centres on the sacrificial

      1 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      'The Hazel Wood' Has Few Uses For Enchantment

      Jan 30, 2018

      In Melissa Albert's dark take on fairy tales, 17-year-old Alice has spent her entire life on the run from her family legacy: a terrifying mythical world created by her grandmother, a famous author.

      3 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      The Lady Cat

      May 3, 2024

      The Lady Cat
      4 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Word Warrior Competition 2021

      Nov 4, 2021

      He is back … and you are invited to spend some time with Detective Nkomba! Enter the Word Warrior 2021 Competition NOW! Show us the end result of your in-depth interview in a written piece of no longer than three pages. 1. Set the scene: are you a ta

      2 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      The Red-Tailed Hawk

      Apr 4, 2023

      The spring of 1954 in the mountains of East Tennessee brought forth a renewal of life. I was 12 years old and given the responsibility of watching over a brood of newly hatched chicks. They were very important to our family. Once grown, we could eat,

      4 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Blackberries

      Apr 5, 2023

      Blackberries
      24 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      A Country Embrace

      Jan 5, 2020

      A Country Embrace
      2 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      The Unmannerly Tiger

      Nov 4, 2020

      The Unmannerly Tiger
      3 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Out Of My TREE

      May 11, 2021

      Out Of My TREE
      3 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      A Chainsaw Massacre

      Jul 26, 2021

      Being in lockdown once again, with a long fringe of hair hanging in my eyes, made me think back somewhat nostalgically to the first, very strict lockdown, when I decided to cut my hair myself with some very blunt kitchen scissors. It was a hack job t

      4 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      The Wind Feels Loss

      Aug 8, 2019

      The Wind Feels Loss
      7 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Water Under The Bridge

      Nov 10, 2022

      The sound of water coursing over rocks filled my ears. The creek banks reached out with lush green vegetation as if to grab and hold me, and the warm June air was sweet with the smell of honeysuckle. The creek was small. Four good jumps and I could g

      26 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      The Ruins

      Aug 5, 2021

      The Ruins
      6 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Change Of Heart

      May 7, 2020

      Change Of Heart
      7 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Song Of The Woods

      May 23, 2022

      Song Of The Woods
      7 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Something Strange in Grandpa’s Woods

      Mar 1, 2022

      Something Strange in Grandpa’s Woods
      3 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Snake Whisperer

      Mar 19, 2024

      Snake Whisperer
      3 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Into the Woods

      Oct 26, 2023

      Into the Woods
      6 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      WINNERS APRIL 2021 STORY CONTEST A New Beginning

      Sep 1, 2021

      Tyler Rich, age 10 Grand Junction, CO The cage door opened. As I gazed into the forest, the memories came rushing back. Fire. Everywhere. Amber spirals licking at my fur, scorching my pelt. No escape. Hands. Then, darkness. I shrank farther back into

      8 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for Wicked Nix

    4.5/5

    4 ratings0 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

      Book preview

      Wicked Nix - Lena Coakley

      1

      There is someone in the forest.

      Knock.

      Knock. Knock.

      It isn’t the sound of one branch hitting another in the wind. It isn’t the sound of a tree-pecker. It is the sound of someone who doesn’t belong.

      I climb higher in the old oak until I can see over the tops of the trees. I look in one direction all the way to Grandfather Mountain. I look in the other direction all the way to the village where the peoples live. Nothing seems wrong. Below me, the green forest sways in the wind. The crooked road winds through it like a scar.

      I scan the road, up and down. I hate the idea of a people on it, but that is allowed as long as they keep moving. No. There is no one.

      Knock.

      Knock. Knock.

      There! Over by the abandoned cottage. I see him! A little people the size of an ant. He’s not on the road where he is allowed. He is in the forest.

      There is a people in our forest.

      I don’t take the road. That’s for them, and besides, my way is faster. I run along the deer path, leaping barefoot over roots and rocks. The screaming-blues dive at me, protecting their nest, but I am past their tree in a moment.

      I stop short, almost falling. A spider-web stretches across the path, sparkling with dew. I go around, careful not to break the spider’s pretty work, and I start to run again.

      When I get near the cottage, I slow down. The knocking has stopped. I don’t see anyone, but I know he’s there. I can smell him, or at least I think I can. Like all peoples, he smells like soap and taking baths and eating with a fork. Horrible.

      The door is wide open, and an old white cow stands in the garden patch, chewing weeds.

      In front of the cottage is the kind of tree whose leaves look shivery when the wind blows. It is called a shivery tree. I climb it and hide in the branches. Even with my bent arm, no one in the forest climbs as well as I do.

      A people comes out. A man-people. He is tallish and oldish and baldish.

      I see that he has some big nails in one hand and a hammer in the other. I shrink back, afraid. A nail would burn me. Anything made of iron would burn me.

      The man-people climbs a ladder and bangs the nails into the roof: knock, knock, knock. He’s fixing the house. He thinks he can live here. In our forest.

      Badness! I cry. This forest belongs to the fairies. You cannot stay.

      The man-people is so surprised he nearly falls off the ladder.

      Who’s there? he says, scanning the trees. Let me see you.

      I laugh my wickedest laugh. You don’t want that. A people like you would scream and run away if you saw my face, and your hair would turn white as bone forever, for I am Wicked Nix, the foulest of the fairies.

      Oh, he says.

      Leave at once!

      But . . . The man-people climbs down the ladder and squints up into the shivery tree. But it’s my home, you know.

      This makes me angry. I make my voice low, like the growl of a bear. I warn you. If you don’t leave, I will put a curse upon your garden so that nothing grows but thorns. I will put a spell upon your hearth so that your fire always smokes. I will turn your well water into skunk spit and . . . and frog pee. I will give your cow wings, and she will fly to the moon!

      I can see he is afraid now. I am sure he is about to beg my fairy pardon. I am sure he is about to leave and never come back. I am very surprised when he says:

      Do your worst, Wicked Nix, foulest of the fairies! This cottage is mine, and I will never leave!

      2

      I spend the night throwing rocks and sticks and pinecones at the man-people’s roof, but he just stays inside.

      The truth is, I don’t know how to put a curse on his garden so that nothing grows but thorns. I don’t know how to put a spell on his hearth or his well water. And I certainly don’t know how to give a cow wings.

      Why did the Good Queen have to leave and put me in charge of the forest? I wonder. So many of her other fairies have more magic than me.

      I go back to my nest in the old oak tree, feeling grouchy as a badger. Usually my nest is very comfortable—it’s made from blankets and ropes and other things I took from the village when no one was looking—but today I toss and turn in my hammock among the branches.

      When I finally fall asleep, I dream of

      Enjoying the preview?
      Page 1 of 1