Spotlight on Kelcie Murphy and the Hunt for the Heart of Danu (Erika Lewis), Excerpt Plus Giveaway! ~US Only

Today we’re spotlighting Kelcie Murphy and the Hunt for the Heart of Danu by Erika Lewis!

Read on for more about Erika Lewis, her book, and a giveaway!

Meet the Authors: Erika Lewis

Erika Lewis grew up in Alexandria, Virginia, where she spent most of her childhood riding her dirt bike through Fort Ward, the Union Army Civil War stomping grounds. She graduated from Vanderbilt University and went on to earn a master’s degree from Georgia State University and an advanced certificate in creative writing from Stony Brook University. The author of Game of Shadows, The Color of Dragons, Firebrand and more, The Academy for the Unbreakable Arts is her middle grade debut.

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About the Book: Kelcie Murphy and the Hunt for the Heart of Danu

Kelcie Murphy is back in another action-packed middle grade adventure, Kelcie Murphy and the Hunt for the Heart of Danu!, the second book in Erika Lewis’s magical series infused with Celtic mythology, The Academy for the Unbreakable Arts.

It’s hard having a father who’s an infamous traitor. It’s even harder having a mother who’s an omen of doom.

After a summer away, Kelcie Murphy is excited to be back at the Academy for the Unbreakable Arts. But she and her friends have barely settled in when they receive a visit from her mother―the war goddess, Nemain―with a warning of coming calamity.

The Heart of Danu, the legendary source of all light and warmth in the Lands of Summer, is going to be stolen. And only Kelcie and her mates can stop it. As they travel with the rest of the students to Summer City to take part in the glorious Ascension Ceremony, Kelcie has no time for the military parade, the lavish ball, or even to visit her father: she’s determined to protect the Heart and her new home.

But the Lands of Summer are still not a welcoming place for Kelcie. When disaster strikes, the Queen, the High Guard, and even some of her schoolmates suspect Kelcie is to blame.

As the world is plunged into darkness, Kelcie will have to decide: does she keep fighting for a place that may always see her as a traitor’s daughter, or for a future greater than the war to come.

~Excerpt~

Niall took full advantage of her distraction, raising his shillelagh to strike. But Kelcie sensed the wind from his overzealous upswing and spun out. With both hands on the stick, she blocked his attack, pushing him off, then jabbed. Niall’s shield slapped away her advance, and he lunged. Kelcie thought to drive her back. She held her ground for too long, and his shillelagh hooked hers. A hard yank and her weapon clanked uselessly to the floor.

Why aren’t you using your powers? Or is that tiny flame in the palm of your hand all you can muster?

Oh, he sounded angry. Was he just baiting her? Didn’t matter to Kelcie. If he wanted her to use her powers, she was more than happy to. Her wind blast slammed him into a pole, airstreams keeping him there as she advanced, cocking her shillelagh. He cringed, shifting his shoulders in a futile attempt to break free.

“Why aren’t you using your powers?”

Her shillelagh ripped from her hands and jackknifed into her own stomach. The air hissed off Niall. His annoying smirk appeared over her as she lay there twitching. She would’ve suffered the humiliation without complaint, not risking a sparking word in this state to set his eyebrows on fire because she might miss and hit something much more vital, but Niall took a congratulatory handshake from Fagan, and Kelcie saw red.

Fighting through the shock waves, she leaped on top of Niall’s back, knocking him to the ground. He managed to roll over, trying to swing, but her weight pressed down on his shillelagh, grinding the shaft against his rib cage with her own, trying to get the orange ball on the handle to touch his chin.

Oh no you don’t! he yelled, vibrating her brain.

The split-second Kelcie lost focus was more than enough time for Niall to shift his legs under the shaft. He pushed with his knees, rolling them over. But before he could pin her, Kelcie kneed the bar out of his grasp. He fell off her, scrambling for his shillelagh at the same time she went for hers. As soon as her weapon was in her hand Kelcie swung but so did Niall. Their sticks locked knobs, leaving them in a game of tug-of- war. Still crushed over his handshake with Fagan, Kelcie lowered her voice to be barely audible.

“Did you enjoy stuffing your face at glorious banquets while my grandmother and I foraged for every meal, fending off lawn gnomes dressed like Little Red Riding Hood with razor-sharp teeth and an unending supply of axes?”

Niall glanced around the room, worried someone heard her. But Kelcie didn’t care if they did. Staring into Niall’s perfect face, the son of the Queen, she choked on anger. “All I asked was to know if my father was okay. To know why he wasn’t answering my letters. And you were too busy to ask?”

Niall let go of the stick, giving Kelcie the win.

“Kelcie . . .”

“So don’t tell me I can’t try and see him. It’s all I can think about. Not the omen we got yesterday that you and Zephyr don’t have time to hear about. Not the amazing fact that the Saiga Den is buzzing with life this year.” She cast her shillelagh to the floor, and clutched the silver bracelets on her wrists, her father’s cuffs that she would never take off. “He’s all I can think about.”

Wait . . . omen? What omen!

Used with permission from Starscape, an imprint of Tor Publishing Group, a trade division of Macmillan Publishers (c) Erika Lewis July, 2023.

Title: Kelcie Murphy and the Hunt for the Heart of Danu (The Academy for the Unbreakable Arts Book 2)

Author: Erika Lewis

Release Date: July 25, 2023

Publisher: Starscape

ISBN-10: ‎ 1250208300

ISBN-13: ‎ 978-1250208309

Genre: Middle grade

Age Range: 8 – 12 years

*GIVEAWAY DETAILS*