Congratulations to Alpha alumni Mike Grinti (2002 & 2004) and Rachel Grinti (2002 & 2003), whose novel Jala’s Mask was published by Pyr earlier this month!
For two hundred years, Jala’s people have survived by raiding the mainland. By shaping the reefs around the Five-and-One Islands into magical ships, they can cross the ocean, take what they want, and disappear.
Or so they have always believed. On the night after Jala becomes queen, a tide of magical fog sweeps over the islands, carrying ships from the mainland. Inside are a desperate people, driven half-mad by sorcery and looking for revenge.
Now Jala–caught between her family’s unending ambitions, the politics of the islands thrown into turmoil, and her unexpected love for the king–must find a way to save them all if she can.
But there are greater powers at work, and the politics of gods are more terrifying than she could have imagined. To save the Five-and-One Islands she may have to leave them behind.
Mike and Rachel Grinti live in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Mike was born in Russia, and moved to the United States with his family when he was a child. The Hobbit, borrowed from the library, got him hooked on reading. Rachel grew up in Pittsburgh, where she now works as a children’s librarian. They are also the authors of Claws, an MG fantasy novel.
You can find out more about Mike, Rachel, and Jala’s Mask at their website, and a complete list of Alpha graduates’ publications and awards is here.