Spellbound Children’s Bookshop hosts a book launch event 6-7pm on Tuesday, August 1 for Alexandra Duncan’s new stand-alone young adult novel Blight (Greenwillow/Harper Collins). The book and event are appropriate for ages twelve and up, and there is no purchase necessary to attend. There will be free refreshments and fun giveaways related to the novel’s plot, including tomato seeds.

Blight is a thriller inspired by current environmental issues, specifically the genetic adjustment of seeds to resist blight and the risks of not allowing natural seed diversity. When an agribusiness facility producing genetically engineered food releases a deadly toxin into the environment, seventeen-year-old Tempest Torres races to deliver the cure before time runs out in this dystopian action-adventure story that is Margaret Atwood’s Oryx and Crake meets Nancy Farmer’s House of the Scorpion. Blight has been chosen as one of twelve seasonal Okra Picks by the Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance.

The first 200 copies of Blight pre-ordered from Spellbound Children’s Bookshop come with a free pack of three art prints by Linus Curci featured in the book’s interior illustrations. Spellbound ships anywhere in the United States and can have books signed and personalized. You can watch a video trailer and read the first two chapters, as well as pre-order the book, at www.spellboundbookshop.com.

About the author
Alexandra Duncan lives in Asheville, NC. She’s a librarian, a former Spellbound employee, and the author of two previous young adult books from Harper Collins, Salvage and its companion novel Sound. Her debut novel Salvage received these honors:

2015 Compton Crook Award winner

2014 Andre Norton Award finalist

2015 Amelia Bloomer Project selection

2014 Junior Library Guild selection

ABA Spring Indies Introduce New Voices title for 2014

Kids’ Indie Next List pick for Spring 2014

Pre-order link https://spellboundbookshop.com/shop/teens/blight-hc-preorder/