The Weirn Books, Vol 1 and 2 by Svetlana Chmakova

I was so chuffed to receive a delightful box with the first two books in Svetlana Chmakova’s Weirn series just before Halloween! Deeply grateful to JY, an imprint of Yen Press, for sending not only the two volumes but also a cute selection of pens, bookmarks and posters, some of which found their ways into the baskets of trick-or-treaters who couldn’t have candy that holiday. Unboxing video will post soon at my Instagram, @DvalerisActual!

The first book, Be Wary Of The Silent Woods, does a terrific job setting the scene for this middle-grade urban fantasy series. Told from the viewpoint of young Ailis Maeve Thornton, Volume 1 describes a coastal New England town where the local vampire, shapeshifter, mermaid and weirn kids go to school at night, in more or less the same building where the human kids study during the day. Magic, ofc, is what helps accommodate both groups, and is primarily wielded by the Weirns, who are witches born with Astrals, demon guardian spirits bound to them for life.

Ailis is a weirn, and your typical middle school kid otherwise. She lives with her grandma over the latter’s shop while her parents are away, and has a crush on Russ, the cute werewolf who used to pick on her when they were both smaller. Her neighbor is another weirn, Jasper, who has a crush on her cousin, Na’ya. Na’ya is obsessed with dragons, and isn’t thrilled that she constantly has to help look after her (adorable) little brother D’esh.

Most school evenings, Ailis walks over to pick up her cousins, dropping off D’esh at day care before heading into school with Na’ya. Their path takes them through the silent woods where tragedy once struck at a schoolhouse the local kids are all forbidden to go near. The cousins are happy to obey, even when a light goes on one evening at the supposedly abandoned structure. When curiosity gets the better of them on a subsequent evening, however, will they be able to face the horrors of the old schoolhouse and emerge unscathed?

The second volume picks up just a short while after Book 1, and is mostly from the point of view of dragon-mad Na’ya. The foe they’d confronted in the first book is not ready to stay down for long, but it’s Na’ya’s inadvertent summoning of an altogether unexpected creature that really has her and her friends in a tizzy… at least until their foe threatens to steal away their dragon for good. Will Na’ya, Ailis, D’esh and their friends be able to stop the theft and protect each other from certain harm?

This is such a great graphic novel series, with a diverse cast, original storylines and genuinely terrific art and structure. I love how Ailis and Na’ya are multiracial cousins, as well as the attention paid to Black culture, even in small details like names and clothing. Grandma’s kindness to the girls’ nemesis Patricia was also super touching, and really makes Patricia a frenemy the reader can invest in, especially at the cliffhanger ending of Book Two. I can well believe that it took Svetlana Chmakova two years to complete this last terrific volume, and am only hoping it doesn’t take as long to get to the next! These are truly excellent middle grade fantasy reads that I can’t wait to read much, much more of!

The Weirn Books, Vol 1: Be Wary Of The Silent Woods by Svetlana Chmakova was published June 16 2020 by JY and is available from all good booksellers, including

The Weirn Books, Vol 2: The Ghost And The Stolen Dragon by Svetlana Chmakova was published October 15 2024 by JY and is available from all good booksellers, including