Beatty, Robert. 
WILLA OF THE WOOD
Disney-Hyperion, 2018
IL 5-8
ISBN: 978-1368005845

(2 booktalks)

Booktalk #1

As a night-spirit, Willa acts as a talented thief for her clan. She routinely creeps into the homes of humans to steal their interesting artifacts. The pillaged items are then presented to the leader of the Faeran people. It is risky work. Night-spirits have been killed during these night forays. On one such mission, Willa is accidentally wounded by a human. She is surprised by the human’s reaction. He appears to be guilty and ashamed that he wounded Willa and he displays honest concern over her injuries. Willa begins to question her beliefs and sets out on a dangerous mission to find the truth. Are all humans bad? Is the clan’s leader honest with his people? And most importantly: will her clan survive?    (Dorothy Canfield Fisher Book Award 2019 - 2020)

Booktalk #2

“Move without a sound. Steal without a trace.”  This is the motto Willa must follow to not only survive, but to become her clan’s best thief.  Because she can’t trust the day-folk—they are known for destruction and pain.  However, it will take a terrible injury to show her that the truth is not always that simple and that you can’t always trust what you have always heard.  It will take bravery, compassion, and unlikely friendships to save not only herself, but the land and Faeran to which she so desperately wants to belong.   (prepared by: Jillian Stroud, South Carolina Department of Education, jstroud@ed.sc.gov)   (South Carolina Book Awards, 2020-2021)