Contact: Judith Pratt
607-273-2661
October is National Work and Family Month. In the new novel, Siljeea Magic, Andrea’s parents work so hard that they don’t know her very well.
Ithaca, NY, playwright and author Judith Pratt has written Siljeea Magic, a magical realism fantasy for young adults. It’s about difficult families, environmental issues, and growing up. The book will be published by Black Rose Writing on October 17, 2019. Review copies are available now.
Andrea, the main character of Siljeea Magic, is starting 8th grade in a new town. But she has a secret. Most people see nothing but trees and grass in the woods that line superhighways. Andrea sees the Bokaaj, small people who live in the buffer zone woods between the highway and the big new house Andrea’s family just moved into.
Andrea is delighted to meet Erau, a Bokaaj boy about her age. He teaches her how to climb trees—he has extra toes—and how to eat acorns and ferns. But then a new road full of houses begins to chew up the woods. Andrea is kidnapped and brought to the Bokaaj leader, who hates her for that destruction. Rescued by the Siljeea, whose magic keeps the Bokaaj invisible, Andrea then discovers that she must find ways to keep these small people safe, while managing a new school, overprotective parents, and a bratty younger brother.
Judith has taught theatre at Ithaca College, written theatre reviews for the Ithaca Journal, and created fundraising and marketing materials for Cornell University. Her plays have been published by JAC Publishing, and performed in Ithaca, across the U.S., and in Cape Town, South Africa. Her play Maize is about Cornell graduate Barbara McClintock, who received a Nobel Prize for her work on plant genetics. Maize won the SciArts at LSU Playwriting Prize, 2019, and was a semi-finalist for the 2019 Mach 33: Caltech/Pasadena Playhouse Festival of New Science-Driven Plays.
Judith is now working on her third novel, and on a play about chronic invisible illness. She is available for interviews and readings.
