The Secrets of Magnolia Moon

Book excerpt: Magnolia Moon is a character whose irrepressible joy and vivid imagination will remind readers just how much can happen in a year of being nine. Magnolia Moon is nine years old, likes Greek mythology, her best friend Imogen May, wishing trees and talking crows. She knows instinctively that buffadillos are armadillos crossed with buffalos and believes there are walramingos living in her garden. She's also the kind of person who can be entrusted with a great many secrets. In her year of being nine, Magnolia must keep a great secret, cope with her best friend moving and the birth of her little brother Finnegan. She navigates every challenge and secret that comes her way with the kind of authenticity and innocence that comes from being nine years wise.