The Wind Rises: Book 1 of The Alma Series

by Timothée de Fombelle, Holly James (Translator), François Place (Illustrator)

Overview

FROM THE BESTSELLING WINNER OF THE PRIX SORCIÈRES

From Europe to Africa to the Caribbean, this first installment in the Alma trilogy tells a gripping story of hope, perseverance, and love that readers will not soon forget.

1786. Isolated from the rest of the world, thirteen-year-old Alma lives with her family in a lush African valley. She spends her days exploring their blissful homeland. But everything changes when her little brother finds a secret way out of the valley.

Alma sets out to find him, but she soon must face terrible dangers in a continent ravaged by the slave trade. The journey to bring her brother home becomes a harrowing adventure to save herself, her family, and the memory of her people.

Meanwhile, in Lisbon, Joseph Mars, an orphan turned petty thief devises a great plan to land himself aboard a slave ship, The Sweet Amelie, on the ultimate quest—to find a pirate’s treasure in the far reaches of the Caribbean. But as time passes, he learns he is not alone in his hunger for the treasure, which forces Joseph to rethink the true purpose of his presence aboard The Sweet Amelie.

The destinies of a large cast of characters, including Alma and Joseph, become intertwined both on land and at sea in this unforgettable adventure of resilience and compassion as de Fombelle quietly elucidates the slave trade and the infamous Middle Passage for middle grade and YA readers.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781609457884
Publisher:	Europa Editions, Incorporated
Publication date:	08/16/2022
Series:	Alma
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	410
File size:	17 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.
Age Range:	8 - 12 Years

About the Author

Timothée de Fombelle is a Paris-based playwright, and author of award-winning fiction. His first series, Toby Alone and Toby Alone and the Secrets of the Tree has been published in twenty-seven languages and won numerous awards, including France’s prestigious Prix Sorcières and the Marsh Award.

Holly James is a translator, writer, and editor from the UK. She translates from French, German and Spanish. She currently lives in Paris.

François Place was born in 1957. After studying at l’école Estienne in Paris, he began working as an illustrator, first in advertising and later in the world of children’s books. He has written and illustrated numerous books, which have won him many prizes, including the BolognaRagazzi Award and the Prix Sorcières.

Table of Contents

Part 1 9

1 When Lions Become Kings 11

2 A Passage to the Rest of the World 18

3 A Heart in the Grass 25

4 Wild Fortress 32

4 What Lies Beyond 39

6 An Ordinary Boy 48

7 The Orders of the Wind 54

8 A Whiff of Treasure 62

9 The Thousand-Headed Pirate 69

10 Walking a Tightrope 78

11 On Board 87

12 The Little Horse 99

13 Moses Shackle 106

14 The Path of Another Hunter 112

15 Gold and Rust 119

16 A Glimpse of Hell 127

17 Good Fortune 137

Part 2 147

18 An Elephant in a Hat Box 147

19 What If It's Them? 156

20 Scattered 161

21 The Horse and the Moon 166

23 The Grand Entrance 173

23 Sunny Spells 179

24 To the Sea 185

25 A Mirage 192

26 The Captives 200

27 Barbaric Harvest 207

28 Dark Flowers 215

29 The Sea 224

30 Saint-Clair 232

31 The Conversation 239

32 The Last Snowflakes 245

33 So Close, Yet So Far 252

Part 3 261

34 Clandestine 263

35 Indestructible Freedom 272

36 A Ticking Time Bomb 279

37 Chasing Away the Darkness 288

38 Black Ink 297

39 All the Lost Children 308

40 Rebirth 315

41 The Weight of Secrets 323

42 A Giant in the Sky 332

43 The Horns of the Bull 341

44 Tell Me Who's Singing 349

45 The Middle of the Night 357

46 Getting Closer 365

47 Dead or Alive 374

48 Up on the Mainmast 383

49 There Will Be Light 391

About the Author 399

About the Illustrator 401

Editorial Reviews

★ 08/15/2022

Two vividly wrought parallel stories, set in the 18th century, intertwine in this gripping historical adventure, a series opener by de Fombelle (Vango). Thirteen-year-old Alma lives in Isaya, a fictional secluded West African valley, with her brothers, Lam and Soum; their mother, Nao; and their father, Mosi. The reason for their isolation is unknown to the children, who have never been outside the valley, but Alma, believing that “even in paradise, you have to tell stories and create imaginary worlds for children,” weaves tales for Lam about the world “over there.” Curious and wanting to witness “over there” for himself, Lam disappears, prompting Alma and Mosi to go searching for him. Meanwhile, 14-year-old Joseph Mars, a white orphan who hails from Lisbon, boards the Sweet Amelie, a ship captained by despicable Lazarus Gardel, who plans to “bring back captives from Africa.” As the Amelie makes port and Alma leaves her valley for the first time, Alma and Joseph’s lives converge. Place’s (The Last Giants) intricate b&w line art skillfully portrays the siblings’ joyful adventures, powerfully contrasting Joseph’s harrowing experiences aboard Gardel’s ship. De Fombelle uses richly detailed, consistently engaging prose, suspenseful atmosphere, and a complex cast to deliver an action-packed tale about heartbreak and resilience. Ages 8–12. (Aug.)

Publishers Weekly

Praise for The Wind Rises

★ “De Fombelle uses richly detailed, consistently engaging prose, suspenseful atmosphere, and a complex cast to deliver an action-packed tale about heartbreak and resilience.”—Publishers Weekly (Starred Review)

★ “Art and text conspire to create a brilliantly formed and unforgettable world of action, adventure, and, in its gritty depiction of the treatment of the soon-to-be enslaved, heartbreaking realism.”—Booklist (Starred Review)

“Fombelle seamlessly narrates a compelling tale of understanding and solidarity ideal for advanced readers...Fombelle does not omit the inhumane brandings, punishments, and remorseless treatment of the enslaved individuals, making this title a strong fiction companion to social studies units on enslaved Africans.”—School Library Journal

“To some extent, the routine features of the adventure are in tension with the particular sorrows of the kidnapped...De Fombelle recognizes many of these agonies, and his succinct and devastating explanations of the customs of the slave trade powerfully animate the facts.”—New York Times Book Review

“An intimate look at the consequences of slavery on a personal level brings the painful episode directly to the reader and demands engagement. A good tale with a real moral. This should find its proper place in educational environments and library reading programs as well as the shelves of book lovers of all ages.”—Reading the West

“This expertly plotted, thrilling adventure offers many surprising twists and leaves the reader eagerly awaiting the next installment. The marvelous gray-scale illustrations by François Place add much to the tale.”—Buffalo News

“In this debut title of a planned trilogy, de Fombelle’s intricate plotting, virtuosic pacing, and Dickensian cast of sharply individuated characters propel readers into the dank corners of the triangle trade.”—Bulletin of The Center for Children’s Books

“Engrossing, propulsive, and full of dazzling images and unforgettable characters…it has all the ingredients of a masterpiece.”—Télérama

“Epic…The Wind Rises proves that Timothée de Fombelle belongs with the very great.”—ELLE Magazine (France)

“A fantastic adventure that is also an accurate depiction of the barbarity of slavery. A major achievement.”—Ouest France

“Luminous…sheds light on the violence inherent in American society.”—AcuaLitté 

“Mixes the historical and the romantic in a dark whirlwind.”—Public Senat 

Praise for Timothée de Fombelle

“De Fombelle writes minimally for maximum effect…packs a punch.”—The Times (UK) on Captain Rosalie

★ “Beautiful writing, intricate plotting, and breathless reveals.”—Kirkus Reviews on Vango (Starred Review)

From the Publisher

09/16/2022

Gr 4–7—Mystery is on every page of this fantasy that has some touches of historical fiction. The novel opens with a family in a unique world that is full of peace, joy, and happiness. As more is shared about the family of two loving parents and three children, readers become aware that the parents are hiding something incredibly important to the safety of the entire family. When one member goes missing, others slowly disappear as they leave to search, slipping from this nearly magical world to one that will seem more familiar. The author begins to introduce new characters and settings that are seemingly unrelated to the previous plot. The story becomes more complex as readers are left to manage all the disparate characters. As the novel concludes, de Fombelle weaves all the story lines into a riveting series debut that borders on transcendent. VERDICT This ambitious novel explores many challenging concepts such as family, humanity, and slavery with honesty.—Jennifer Seebauer

School Library Journal

2022-07-13
Pirates and enslavers traverse the 18th-century seas in this novel spanning the disparate corners of the triangular trade.

In a West African valley, 13-year-old Alma; her brothers, Lam and Soum; and their parents, Nao and Mosi, live in isolation for reasons unknown to the children. The appearance of a creature the young people take for a solid-white zebra draws their attention to the outside world, threatening the family’s serenity. The kidnapping, enslavement, and commerce of African peoples is intimately familiar to Nao, who escaped capture with the help of Mosi, a former slave trader himself. Thirteen-year-old Joseph Mars, an orphan secretly seeking a mysterious fortune, learns of the slave trade’s terror and brutality aboard The Sweet Amelie, a vessel with a callous, greedy captain that he sneaked onto in Lisbon. Lam’s pursuit of the white horse, Alma’s pursuit of her brother, and Mosi’s attempts to save his family from enslavers are interwoven with Joseph’s clandestine search for gold and the account of a 14-year-old French heiress who has inherited tremendous debts alongside ownership of The Sweet Amelie. While forming compelling threads of an adventure, the plot relies on horrors and trauma that contrast the witty, humorous, and immersive writing with the very different stakes for the European and African characters. The author’s attention to historical detail and Place’s striking line drawings add charm and romance to a story that sometimes struggles to justify either.

A well-written series opener uncomfortably built upon real historical tragedies. (Historical fiction. 13-18)

Kirkus Reviews