Read an exclusive excerpt from City of Lights by Kelly Byrd

 

One of the best characteristics of middle grade stories is how so many of them are fantasies taking place in magical lands. Today you are getting an exclusive sneak peek inside the first book in a new series from Kelly Byrd. City of Lights takes us Far From Home. Be sure to check out the rest of the tour for even more and then enter the giveaway. Make sure you also leave questions and comments for the author along the way!

What happens when oh so ordinary Mary Jingo, follows her instincts (and her nose) and ends up in a magical land Far From Home?

In City of Lights, author Kelly Byrd introduces readers to Mary, who is one week away from finishing fifth grade. Mary’s mind is on starting middle school in the fall and finally getting her own phone. But then this ordinary girl notices glimmers of light and meets a strange little man who conjures the best smell she has ever smelled. Before she even stops to consider what she’s doing, she agrees to accompany the man to the land of LeeChee, where our Mary Jingo from the Shadowlands in seen as warrior and a great hope.

Now this very ordinary girl must find a way to help save LeeChee from Thrall and restore the Everything—a magical life- and joy-giving force that somehow connects Mary’s world to LeeChee. How can she face the Void, the foul-smelling Shoeboxians, or the evil Mellie? And how can she do all of the Far From Home?

Read an exclusive excerpt:

He made a sweeping motion with his arms and again Mary smelled it. She smelled the most wonderful things in the entire world. All the things that she could sit and smell forever. Like peppermint sticks, Christmas trees, the asphalt after a good hard rain, and her father’s shaving cream. She breathed in deeply and the little man smiled.

“You have so many questions. I understand. Regrettably, I am not the keeper with the grace to answer them. Come with me.”

It wasn’t a time for pacing the floor or not knowing what to do. Mary had to act. And she had to know where that smell was coming from. She needed to smell it again. Even then, it was quickly fading from the air around her, leaving her feeling desolate and full of moth balls.

Mary acted. She took two large steps across the floor and gripped those five very small fingers. She missed the grin that spread across the little man’s face as he said quietly, “That’s a girl. Now, on to the Adventure.”

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Kelly Byrd is a middle-grade author by choice, a writer by discipline, home-grown chef, and amateur gardener. She lives in Nashville, Tennessee with her husband and two cute-as-buttons rescue pups. The Far From Home series is about growing up, finding your voice, and rescuing the Everything.

Website: https://www.kellybyrd.com/

Buy the book on Amazon: https://bit.ly/FarFromHome1

Follow Far from Home on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/farfromhomeseries/

Twitter: http://twitter.com/FFHSeries

Kelly Byrd will be awarding a $25 Amazon or B/N GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.

a Rafflecopter giveaway