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First published in USA in 2020 by HarperCollins Children’s Books
First published in Great Britain in 2020
by Electric Monkey, an imprint of Egmont UK Limited
2 Minster Court, 10th floor, London EC3R 7BB
Published by arrangement with HarperCollins Children’s Books, a division
of HarperCollins Publishers, New York, New York, USA
Text copyright © 2020 Tahereh Mafi
The moral rights of the author have been asserted
First e-book edition 2020
ISBN 978 1 4052 9704 2
Ebook ISBN 978 1 4052 9711 0
A CIP catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the publisher.
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Contents
ELLA JULIETTE
KENJI
ELLA JULIETTE
KENJI
ELLA JULIETTE
KENJI
ELLA JULIETTE
KENJI
ELLA JULIETTE
KENJI
ELLA JULIETTE
KENJI
ELLA JULIETTE
KENJI
ELLA JULIETTE
one.
two.
In the dead of night, I hear birds.
I hear them, I see them, I close my eyes and feel them, feathers shuddering in the air, bending the wind, wings grazing my shoulders when they ascend, when they alight. Discordant shrieks ring and echo, ring and echo—
How many?
Hundreds.
White birds, white with streaks of gold, like crowns atop their heads. They fly. They soar through the sky with strong, steady wings, masters of their destinies.
