Adrift in Currents Clean and Clear

An origin story allows further exploration of McGuire’s (Mislaid in Parts Half-Known) beloved “Wayward Children” series about children exiled from fantasy worlds and forced to face reality. In her orphanage back in Russia, Nadya thought she would spend her childhood caring for the other children because she couldn’t picture anyone wanting a girl with a missing arm. However, she is adopted and brought to Colorado, where she falls through a door into Belyyreka, a water world where talking turtles grow big enough to tow boats. Nadya feels she’s finally found her true home, making it that much more painful when she is returned to the world of her birth. While not necessarily an introduction to the entirety of McGuire’s fantastical universe, this novel lets newcomers get their feet wet. Nadya’s story reads like a fairy tale, thanks to narrator Barrie Kreinik, whose Russian accent immerses readers in the story and delivers lines with a smooth, gentle tone reminiscent of a mother reading a storybook to her children.