Tidemagic: The Many Faces of Ista Flit

***Breakthrough Children's Book of the Year – The Week Junior Book Awards 2025*** 
 
Be swept away by an exquisite and unforgettable adventure from a stunning new talent in children's storytelling, perfect for fans of Northern Lights and The Unadoptables. 
 
Meet Ista Flit. Daughter. Face-changer. Thief . . . 
 
Amongst the cobbled streets and misty alleyways of Shelwich, magic rises and falls with the Tide. When the Tide is out, the magic ebbs to a low murmur. When the Tide is in, the magic is high - and Tide-blessings are at their strongest. 
 
For most people, the Tide-blessing they are born with is nothing more than a simple party trick: eyes that change colour, or the ability to recite a poem backwards. Some, though, are blessed with more powerful gifts. Telepathy. Flight. 
 
Or, in the case of Ista Flit, being able to transform to look like someone else. Anyone else... 
 
Ista has come to Shelwich in search of her missing father, and she'll do anything to find him - even work for Shelwich's most notorious thief. Then she meets Nat and Ruby, both struggling with their own search: Nat for his little brother, Ravi, and Ruby for her sister Saf. 
 
As more strange disappearances send shockwaves through the town, they must form a tentative friendship and draw on all the Tidemagic they can to unravel a mystery that leads to an old, abandoned theatre, and to the ancient caves beneath Shelwich. 
 
But what they find there will be far more than they have bargained for...

Brisk action, fiendish political chicanery, and magic with an intriguing twist.

Once upon a time, Clare was an actor, touring theatres all over the UK and Ireland. A few years ago, she turned her love of storytelling from stage to page and became a writer, too. She lives in southeast London, where she spends a lot of time walking by the river in the hope that a little Tidemagic might rub off on her.

Meet Ista Flit. Daughter. Face-changer. Thief . . . 
 
Amongst the cobbled streets and misty alleyways of Shelwich, magic rises and falls with the Tide. When the Tide is out, the magic ebbs to a low murmur. When the Tide is in, the magic is high - and Tide-blessings are at their strongest. 
 
For most people, the Tide-blessing they are born with is nothing more than a simple party trick: eyes that change colour, or the ability to recite a poem backwards. Some, though, are blessed with more powerful gifts. Telepathy. Flight. Or, in the case of Ista Flit, being able to transform to look like someone else. Anyone else... 
 
Ista has come to Shelwich in search of her missing father, and she'll do anything to find him - even work for Shelwich's most notorious thief. Then she meets Nat and Ruby, both struggling with their own search: Nat for his little brother, Ravi, and Ruby for her sister Saf. As more strange disappearances send shockwaves through the town, they must form a tentative friendship and draw on all the Tidemagic they can to unravel a mystery that leads to an old, abandoned theatre, and to the ancient caves beneath Shelwich. But what they find there will be far more than they have bargained for...

The Illusioneers

A magical new fantasy novel from the author of Tidemagic, perfect for readers from 8 to 13. 
 
Twins Maddox and Lou are part of the five percent of the population known as illusioneers – magicians who can create spectacular illusions. Enrolling at Mistfort, the academy where their skills will be honed through a series of trials, should be the first step towards a prestigious future. But the least powerful students are expelled every week, and Maddox knows she’s on borrowed time. 
 
Her sister, however, is strong. Almost too strong. The twins’ training has barely begun before Lou is crafting extraordinary illusions that sound and even smell as real as they look. But there is a danger in such power. Illusioneers who can’t control their magic risk ‘looping’ – conjuring illusions so intense they can trap onlookers in a terror trance, unable to distinguish what’s real from what isn’t. 
 
While Lou seeks help from charismatic headteacher Dr Cracken, Maddox starts to suspect that her twin’s struggles might be part of a larger danger. Looping is on the rise, compromising public safety. The Ministry of Imagination blames the rebellious faction known as the White Crows, but what if the truth lies closer to home – within the walls of Mistfort itself . . . ?

Twins Maddox and Lou are part of the five percent of the population known as illusioneers – magicians who can create spectacular illusions. Enrolling at Mistfort, the academy where their skills will be honed through a series of trials, should be the first step towards a prestigious future. But the least powerful students are expelled every week, and Maddox knows she’s on borrowed time. 
 
Her sister, however, is strong. Almost too strong. The twins’ training has barely begun before Lou is crafting extraordinary illusions that sound and even smell as real as they look. But there is a danger in such power. Illusioneers who can’t control their magic risk ‘looping’ – conjuring illusions so intense they can trap onlookers in a terror trance, unable to distinguish what’s real from what isn’t. 
 
While Lou seeks help from charismatic headteacher Dr Cracken, Maddox starts to suspect that her twin’s struggles might be part of a larger danger. Looping is on the rise, compromising public safety. The Ministry of Imagination blames the rebellious faction known as the White Crows, but what if the truth lies closer to home – within the walls of Mistfort itself . . . ?

Clare Harlow

Ista Flit and her friends Nat and Ruby have foiled a dastardly plot by the Hettle family to take control of the town of Shelwich, but Ista still needs to find her missing father. 
 
A magical key transports her to the mysterious Glass Island, where a sinister monster haunts the reed-beds, and the local inhabitants are falling under the seductive spell of the marsh spinners. 
 
Boldly venturing into the marsh spinner court, Ista and her friends will need all their wits and Tidemagic to resist its magical pull. Can they find Ista’s father, or will they be lost forever to the power of the spinners’ sinister music . . . ?

Clare Harlow

Praise for Tidemagic: Ista Flit and the Impossible Key

An engagingly twisty sequel.

Books by Clare Harlow

Series by Clare Harlow

Tidemagic

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