The Tarnished Garden [Paperback]

In this enchanting follow-up toThe Gilded Girl, Maeve and Izzy O'Donnell must adjust to a new life together at the Manhattan School for Magicbut when Maeve's magic goes rogue and their school is in danger, they'll need to lean on one another to make things right.

The Manhattan School for Magic is the newest kindling school in New York, but Maeve ODonnell knows she doesn't deserve her place there. Though her sister, Izzy, is one of the school's founders and a hero to those who can now kindle, Maeve can't control her magic and she lives in fear of anyoneespecially Izzyfinding out.

When Maeves worst fears come true and her magic goes rogue, it damages not only the new school but Izzys reputation as well. While trying to repair what shes broken, Maeve discovers a mysterious garden in the tenement neighborhood of the Tarnish, a hidden place where her magic actually works. As her magic and confidence grow, she befriends the others for whom the garden is a haven: a litter of talking kittens (house dragons, of course) who need Maeves help to find their missing mother. But someone else is searching for the kittens, too, someone who doesnt care how many magical sites they have to destroy to stop magics expansion. And Maeves unstable magic might be the only way to save her sisters school from being snuffed out next.

The Tarnished Gardenis a sparkling middle-grade novel from Alyssa Colman.

Alyssa Colmanis an award-winning author who writes heartwarming stories for kids. Her novel,Where Only Storms Grow, won the 2026 American Library Associations Schneider Family Book Award, the 2026 Josette Frank Award, and is a Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection. Her other books include TheTarnished GardenandThe Gilded Girl, both historical tales with a magical twist. Alyssa is a graduate of Wake Forest University and resides in Virginia.A sweet tale spun around friendship, sisterly love, and drlc(