Ballad of the Beanstalk

A Library Journal Self-e Selection.As her fingers move across the strings of her familys heirloom harp sixteen-year-old Clarion can forget. She doesnt dwell on the recent passing of her beloved father or the fact that her mother has just sold everything they owned including that very same instrument that gives Clarion life. She doesnt think about how her friends treat her like a feeble brittle thing to be protected. She doesnt worry about how to tell the elegant Elena her best friend and first love that she doesnt want to be her sweetheart anymore. She becomes the melody and loses herself in the song.When Mack a lords dashing young son rides into town so his father and Elenas can arrange a marriage between the two youth Clarion finds herself falling in love with a boy for the first time. Drawn to Clarions music Mack puts Clarion and Elenas relationship to the test but he soon vanishes by climbing up a giant beanstalk that only Clarion has seen. When even the town witch wont help Clarion is determined to rescue Mack herself and prove once and for all that she doesnt need protecting. But while she fancied herself a savior she couldnt have imagined the enormous world of danger that awaits her in the kingdom of the clouds.A prequel to the fairy tale Jack and the Beanstalk that reveals the true story behind the magical singing harp.