Splinter & Ash: Volume 1

“An exciting, twisty story packed with everything you want from a fantasy adventure.” —Anne Ursu, author of Not Quite a Ghost

In New York Times bestselling author Marieke Nijkamp's immersive middle grade fantasy adventure, two young misfits embark on a dangerous quest to save their kingdom—and each other. For fans of B. B. Alston’s Amari and the Night Brothers, Soman Chainani’s School for Good and Evil, and Tamora Pierce’s Tortall books.

On the eve of her twelfth birthday, all Princess Adelisa—Ash to her friends—wants to do is run away. The palace doesn’t feel like home. Her mother is holding the war-torn kingdom together by a thread. Her brother bullies her. And the masked ball to celebrate her birthday turns into a nightmare when the nobles openly mock her.

Then Ash meets Splinter. Fierce, brave, and adventurous, Splinter dreams of becoming a knight like her older brother, though only noble sons get to be squires. Until now.

There’s never been a princess’s squire before, but Ash decides it’s the perfect solution. Together, they can face the bullies, snobs, gossips, and disapproving families.

But as their friendship grows, Splinter and Ash discover a deadly royal conspiracy of nobles planning to overthrow the queen. When Ash is kidnapped, Splinter must navigate long-held secrets and dangerous plots. Ash, a princess with a disability, needs to be a princess who saves herself. And they both have to find a way back to each other to save the kingdom, together.

The first in a trilogy, bestselling author Marieke Nijkamp’s Splinter & Ash evokes the classic adventure and atmosphere of fantasies by Lloyd Alexander and Tamora Pierce and the fresh, inclusive lens of writers such as Rick Riordan, Angie Thomas, and Soman Chainani. It invites everyone—no matter who they are or what they look like—to fight for what they believe in.

Two misfits against the world. One kingdom in the balance.

• A Nonbinary Hero: Splinter dreams of becoming a knight, but the kingdom says only noble sons can be squires. Fierce, loyal, and true to themself, Splinter is ready to prove everyone wrong.
• Knights and Squires Reimagined: When Princess Ash makes Splinter the first-ever princess’s squire, they must navigate a court full of bullies and secrets to save a kingdom that doesn’t accept them.
• An Unlikely Friendship: A runaway princess who feels like an outcast and a would-be knight with a secret find strength in each other, forming a bond that could save them both.
• A Kingdom in Peril: After Ash is kidnapped by traitors, Splinter must embark on a dangerous quest to rescue the princess and stop the plot to overthrow the queen.