Elena the Brave

KIRKUS STARRED REVIEW: "A vivid mix of history, romance, and folklore with a notably relatable hero."

WINNER of the 2023 Writer's Digest Self-pub Ebook Award for Best YA Novel and 2022 BookLife Prize Semifinalist

Old Rus, a land of witches and ogres, bogatyr warriors and six-headed dragons, magic and myth. A land lurking below the waking world, a fabled land - except for the chosen few.

It's 1942, and the world is at war. Elena is just a schoolgirl in a Pennsylvania steel town, the Russia of her forebears long forgotten - except in tales, sung by her babka in haunting tones. Elena can picture Old Rus clearly as she ponders her pet rock, its surface black and smooth, but its depths strange. Such visions! The snow-swollen Dnepr, wending southward through the wild steppe all the way to Byzantium. Vladimir of the Bright sun, ruling from glorious Kiev!. If only it were real. If only hers was not just an ordinary family in trying times. An ordinary family - with an extraordinary destiny.

Be careful what you wish for.

Meanwhile, Old Rus is in crisis. A dragon flies, a maiden is captured, and the great bogatyr, Dobrynya, is tasked with her rescue. But his son, Mitya, senses treachery on all sides. How can you save a man who will not save himself? And must he venture alone, trailing his father across the steppe where warring nomads range, even to the distant peaks of the Sorochinsk Mountains? He is prepared to do just that when a strange girl appears in the prince's stables and upends all his plans.

What happens when two worlds - and hearts - collide?

"Readers will feel fully immersed in the tale from the first page to the last." ~ The BookLife Prize

JULIE MATHISON is the multiple award-winning author of books that seek to transport and enrich readers while entertaining them. Her novels, whether coming-of-age, fantasy, or mystery, all contain elements of history and emphasize complex themes and a love of language. Her author imprint, Starr Creek Press, is founded on the principle of "books not boxes," the belief that a good book should transcend genre and category and should be enjoyable to readers of any age. She also writes and speaks about the interface of traditional and independent publishing, and the role of quality self-publishing in maintaining a robust and healthy literary ecosystem