The Wonderling

The Wonderling

By Mira Bartók

 

 

 

 

 

 

AUS Price: $24.99
NZ Price: $27.99
ISBN: 9781406370645

Walker Books

Mira Bartok began her writing career with an autobiography that was a New York Times Bestseller and winner of the 2012 National Book Critics Circle Award for Autobiography. The Wonderling is her debut novel.

Fox 2000 brought the rights for this extraordinary debut novel with its nod to Dickensian heroes and rogues, before the manuscript was even completed.  In The Wonderling, Mira Bartók tells the story of Arthur, a shy, fox-like groundling with only one ear and a desperate desire to belong, as he seeks his destiny.

Welcome to the Home for Wayward and Misbegotten Creatures, an institution run by evil Miss Carbunkle, a cunning villainess who believes her terrified young charges exist only to serve and suffer. Part animal and part human, the groundlings toil in classroom and factory, forbidden to enjoy anything regular children have, most particularly singing and music. For the Wonderling, an innocent-hearted, one-eared, fox-like eleven-year-old with only a number rather than a proper name – a 13 etched on a medallion around his neck – it is the only home he has ever known. But unexpected courage leads him to acquire the loyalty of a young bird groundling named Trinket, who gives the Home’s loneliest inhabitant two incredible gifts: a real name – Arthur, like the good king in the old stories – and a best friend. Using Trinket’s ingenious invention, the pair escape over the wall and embark on an adventure that will take them out into the wider world and ultimately down the path of sweet Arthur’s true destiny.

About the Author

Mira Bartók is a writer and artist whose New York Times best-selling memoir, The Memory Palace: A Memoir, won the National Book Critics Circle Award for Autobiography. The Wonderling is her first novel for young readers. She lives in Western Massachusetts.