The Thief who Sang Storms by Sophie Anderson

"My family are alkonosts, which means we're descended from the ancient bird-people of our island. Most alkonosts look similar to humans, although we're smaller and lighter, and have feathers, while humans have hair. ... The biggest difference between alkonosts and humans (have the) ability to sing magic."

Until three years ago alkonosts and humans lived in harmony but on the day of the Unity celebration one of their ships - Joy - sinks in a wild storm and the leaders of Morovia are drowned. The new leader blames the singing magic and all alkonosts are banished to the swamp lands. A new army of bogatyrs take control but they need protection from the singing magic and this comes from iron. Bogatyrs and their leader Captain Ilya clad themselves in iron from head to toe. The iron is mined from the waste land behind the castle and so alkonosts are captured and forced to undertake back-breaking labour. 

Linnet, an alkonost, watches as her father is captured. She is a resourceful girl and so she gathers her friends - alkonost and human and they make a plan to rescue Nightingale and all of the others. As she works on her plan unlikely ally arrives. Her name is Hero. Linnet and Hero were best friends before the sinking of Joy but something changed and straight after the sinking Hero utterly rejected Linnet blaming her and all alkonosts for the tragedy. Hero arrives in the swamp lands just as Linnet and her friends are about to be arrested but can she be trusted?

This book contains the most amazing, invented world. The days of the week for example have creative names: Songsday, Nestday, Liftday, Flightday, Glidesday, Soarsday and Swoopday. And the alkonost character names are all based around birds - Linnet, Nightingale, Jay, Kestrel, Robin and Lark. You are sure to also warm to Linnet's special friends - you can see them on the cover - Lumpy a toad and Whiskers a swamp rat. 

Reading this book does take some stamina - it has just over 400 pages and every few chapters there is a flashback where Linnet tells the story of past events which are linked to their banishment. I expected to read this book over a day or two but it took me over a week. I am not sure why but someone the action didn't seem to hold my attention. The title also continues to puzzle me, but I will leave you to ponder this yourself. Here are some very detailed teachers notes from the author webpage. 

Publisher blurb: The Island of Morovia is shaped like a broken heart. The humans live on one side of the island, and the alkonosts - the bird-people - live on the other. But it wasn't always this way...Linnet wishes she could sing magic. But magic is forbidden and she has been banished with her father to the Mournful Swamp. She misses her old life, and dreams of reuniting with her friends. When her father is captured for taking a precious jewel, Linnet must set out on a treacherous journey. Travelling through alligator pools and sinking sands with new friends, she learns how to be brave, and discovers something even more powerful than singing magic. Something that could save her father, and heal the broken heart of her island once more... 

Anderson delivers convincing, inviting worldbuilding, wide in scope, lovely in its evocation of landscapes, and entrancing in descriptions of foods, crafts, clothing, and feathers. ... Impressively different and captivating. Kirkus

This beautifully written tale of a divided nation is loosely based on characters from a Russian folksong. It explores bereavement and persecution, but ultimately celebrates the power of friendship, trust and hope to reunify enemies and establish peace. BookTrust

With a cast of wonderful characters – including a toad named Lumpy and a smelly but ever-faithful swamp rat named Whiskers – and an action-filled plot, The Thief Who Sang Storms is as entertaining as it is moving, and would be a fantastic addition to the bookshelf for kids aged 9+. Readings

Sophie Anderson has won the Independent Bookshop Book of the Year Award and the Wales Book of the Year Award, and been shortlisted for the CILIP Carnegie Medal twice, the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize, the Blue Peter Book Award, the British Book Awards’ Children’s Fiction Book of the Year, the Andersen Prize, and the Branford Boase Award. Here are three other books by Sophie Anderson.

Here is the US cover - which do you prefer?

Companion book: 

Prisoner of Ice and Snow