The Memory Spinner

Ever since her mother’s recent death, 13-year-old Lavender has been experiencing peculiar memory lapses. She can’t recall specific apothecary terms, which are pertinent to her apprenticeship with her medicine man father; the reasons she no longer talks with her best friend, baker’s son Guste; and worst of all to Lavender, memories of Mama. Disregarding Guste’s advice and her father’s distrust of magic, Lavender, seeking a remedy, visits Frey, a sorcerer who sews enchantments into clothing. In Frey, the teen finds renewed purpose, maternal care, and the restoration of her lost memories. But there is a price Lavender must pay, one that may doom her home, Hattertown. Cornwell approaches Lavender’s grappling with grief via richly detailed depictions of love and redemption as the teen navigates emotionally complex relationships. Lavender and Frey’s dynamic is a standout feature of this gentle tale; their individual responses to loss are layered and age-appropriate, culminating in an auspicious debut from an up-and-coming talent. Main characters read as white. Ages 8–12. Agent: Mary Cummings, Great River Literary. (Aug.)