By Jordan Ifueko
Amulet / Abrams, 2024
280 pages
978-1-4197-6435-6
Age 12 and older
A sparkling novel set in the same world as the author’s West African-inspired Raybearer series succeeds as a lively stand-alone. Small Sade (Black) is an orphan who’s aged out of the care system. With no supports for young people like her and a crushed foot from an accident when she worked as a child laborer years before, her prospects aren’t promising. Small Sade also has mottled skin (vitiligo), but finds comfort in her appearance. When Small Sade meets Crocodile–a cursed man slowly losing his human form–the attraction between them is immediate. Every time he uses magic he furthers his transformation; this complicates their developing love story, since he often uses magic to be helpful to Small Sade. Small Sade gets a cleaning job at a struggling inn run by a once wealthy and still self-serving and self-centered woman. When the woman discovers Small Sade’s Curse-Eating gift—she can consume people’s negative emotions, transforming the way they feel—she offers Small Sade’s services to eat people’s guilt. Small Sade knows she’s being used, but to her it is a means of independence—employment and a place to stay among the community of friends she’s made on staff, whose dreams inspire her. Themes of social justice, self-worth, and personal empowerment are deftly woven through a story told in Small Sade’s observant, captivating voice. A concluding author’s note acknowledges references to popular fairy tales throughout, as well as factual information about society and politics that informed her telling. ©2025 Cooperative Children’s Book Center