The Musician

by Heloisa Prieto

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Pub Date Dec 13 2022 | Archive Date Dec 30 2022

Sci Fi & Fantasy

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Description

way to the beat of beauty and poetry in “The Musician” (Dec 13, 2022, Koehler Books) a new YA novel by multi award-winning Brazilian author, Heloisa Prieto. With over 2 million books sold in Brazil, Prieto is already a household name. But her long-standing success hasn’t stopped her from dazzling her readers with lyrical prose and spell-binding stories. With The Musician, she will debut her first English-written story within the US, uniting Brazilian mythology and the Guarani culture in a magical setting.

With the success of her Mano series in Brazil, Prieto’s books are no stranger to the limelight. Famous for her Mano series that was adapted into the 2011 International Film Festival for Children and Young Adults (FICI) award-winning film, “The Best Things in the World”, Prieto approaches her newest story in a different way creating a timeless and magical coming-of-age story filled with poetry, romance, and mystery.

It follows a young Thomas whose only companions are the musical creatures only he can see. As a famous musician, he’s able to hide the lingering pain of his childhood using music as a form of connecting with the rest of the world. But when people find out about his magical creatures, they plan to steal it for themselves through seduction. With the help of Marlui, a young Guarani shaman, Thomas must face down his demons in this offbeat love triangle.

A Note From the Publisher

HELOISA PRIETO is one of Brazil’s most celebrated children and YA authors. She has sold over two million books in her native country. Her Mano series of YA novels inspired the Time Warner movie The Best Things in the World. She recently published 1,002 Ghosts, and her book Viajantes do Vento was selected for the PNLD Public-Book Purchasing Programme, the biggest of its kind in the world.

She has spent a lifetime researching myths and legends–both ancient and modern–and organizing and curating collections of cross-cultural interest. She has created and organized numerous creative writing workshops for children, teenages, and adults. Heloisa also has a PhD in French literature (University of São Paulo) and a master’s degree in semiotics (Catholic University of São Paulo).

Advance Praise

“There is magic in music, and Heloisa Prieto’s elegant prose captures the marriage of the two in a fanciful narrative that also touches the heart’s most profound truths. Accessible, readable, subtle, and often delightful, The Musician draws us forward with a fresh tale that carries deep messages of time, place and the integrity inherent in each soul, to be read slowly and savored for its whimsy, and its wisdom.”

– Greg Fields 2022 Winner, Independent Press Award for Literary Fiction

“‘The Musician’ is a beautifully crafted story involving elements of the supernatural; reminiscent of Edgar Allan Poe. Heloisa Prieto’s pen draws with bold strokes a kaleidoscope of characters in this unique story, explosive in its power to wrap the reader in a fabric of tension which is compelling and alive.”

– Claire Galligan, International Award winning Theater Director, Radio Producer, and Writer

“A narrative which by the magic of music leads us to resignify Orpheus' classical Greek myth intertwined by the fight for the indigenous forest people preservation and the urgent need to face the ecological issue that is threatening our planet. The characters of this entrancing book shall transform you, in a way or the other... “

– Maria José Silveira, Acclaimed award-winning Brazilian author of the awarded novel “Her Mother´s Mother´s Mother & her Daughters”

“While reading “The Musician” I experienced some of the pleasures which, according to Séan O´Faoláin, a creative narrative offers: the good yarn, suspense, reversal of expectation, effective use of language, identification and, above all, imaginative flight.”

– Dr. Munira Hamud Mutran. Doctor Honoris Causa On Literature, National University of Ireland, Maynooth, professor at the University of São Paulo.

“I really appreciated reading Heloisa Prieto’s The Musician. I believe it is very relevant for people to get acquainted with our cultural scenario and traditional wisdom. According to the Guarani teachings, artists don’t do their job just to entertain, but to touch people's hearts. We say that writers are warriors, in the sense that they are God gifted, so I believe her book will be very important as a way to show contemporary society a different world: ours.”

– Olivio Jekupé, indigenous writer from the Guarani nation has published 24 books, including bi-lingual editions (guarani-portuguese), having also been published in Italy.

“I was mesmerized by this narrative´s musicality, its rhythm, its repertoire, the quotes from actual songs, as well as poems and lyrics - all of them skillfully orchestrated by the author, offering the reader not only some truly thrilling scenes, as well as poetry and reflection.”

– Gabriella Mancini is an acclaimed Brazilian young TV, movie script writer, having worked at Netflix, TV Cultura, LC Barreto, Copa Studio, Gullane, among others

“Indigenous people are at risk, fighting to preserve not only the forests, but also the future of our children. The Musician really touched my heart by echoing voices that must be heard. Long life to the power of literature.”

– Dr. Katia Charada has a PHD on Literary Theory and History at Unicamp. (University of Campinas)

“There is magic in music, and Heloisa Prieto’s elegant prose captures the marriage of the two in a fanciful narrative that also touches the heart’s most profound truths. Accessible, readable...