Wind Shifter

Dave Jenkinson is a professor in the Faculty of Education at the University of Manitoba and the author of the “Portraits” section of Emergency Librarian.

This well-developed, gently paced fantasy explores the themes of envy,
hatred, and prejudice. Freyan history recorded that 500 years ago the
lush kingdom was invaded by treacherous “Ugliks”—grey, hairless,
six-fingered humanoids who lived beyond the Rim Mountains. The nearly
vanquished Freyans were rescued by an apprentice wizard, Mika, who
created an impassable barrier—the Broken Hills—between the two
peoples. In contemporary Freya, 14-year-old Kerstin Speller, apprenticed
to her wizard father, Morgan, daydreams about someday matching Mika’s
fame. When a drought strikes Freya and rumors of another Uglik invasion
surface, Kerstin sees her opportunity for heroism. As a result of her
age and gender, Kerstin is left behind by the army and other wizards,
and so she sallies forth on her own. Paralleling the conflict between
the two nations is the stormy relationship between Kerstin and another
apprentice wizard, orphan Alarc Thatcher. Highly recommended.