Thunderbird: Book Three

by Sonia Nimr, M. Lynx Qualey (Translator)

Overview

The third book in a fast-paced time-traveling fantasy adventure trilogy centered on a young orphaned Palestinian girl who starts in the present and must go back in time to save the world.

In the third and final book of the Thunderbird trilogy, Noor finds herself in Byzantine Jerusalem, in the year 638 CE, where the city is under siege. She is joined by Sabeeka, the djinn who takes the form of a cat, and meets the twins Helena and Julian, who have the power of healing. The four team up to find the thunderbird. But before they can, they are swallowed by a giant wormlike creature called a bakasola, which takes them to the world beyond the wall that separates the world of the djinn from our ordinary human world. From the terrifying, dark, gloomy world of the bakasola, Noor and her friends are rescued and delivered to the colorful and peaceful world of the sakarik, where they discover the bakasola are stealing the golden liquid that keeps the sakarik alive. Will Noor and her friends rescue the sakarik and return to the human world in time to find the last two thunderbird feathers that will save the world?

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781477327548
Publisher:	University of Texas Press
Publication date:	10/08/2024
Series:	Emerging Voices from the Middle East
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	120
File size:	1 MB

About the Author

Sonia Nimr is an award-winning Palestinian writer, storyteller, translator, and oral historian who has published more than two dozen books for children and young adults. She is an assistant professor of philosophy and cultural studies at Birzeit University.

M. Lynx Qualey is an award-winning translator and the founding editor of ArabLit and ArabLit Quarterly, and cohost of the BULAQ literary podcast.

Table of Contents

Title Page 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.

Editorial Reviews

2024-07-04
This trilogy closer from Palestine that’s translated from Arabic transports readers further back in history as Noor seeks the final two phoenix feathers that will seal the crack in the wall between worlds and keep humanity safe.

Noor comes to in Aelia, as Jerusalem was known in 638 C.E. under Roman rule. Her ankle is broken, she doesn’t speak Aramaic, and she longs for her normal life in Ramallah. But at least she has Sabeeka, her steadfast djinn companion in the form of a black cat—and there’s the excitement of seeing Muslim historical figures she recognizes from school textbooks. With Sabeeka’s assistance as interpreter (and a clever bit of ventriloquism), Noor finds teenage twins Julian and Helena, who, like previous helpers across time, look remarkably like her and possess magic rings like her own. The siblings, who have forbidden magical healing abilities, have barely welcomed them before all four are swallowed up by a slithering creature and taken to the bleak world of the Baku Salaa beyond the wall, where the humans’ blood is wanted as a cure. Fortunately, they’re helped by the Sakarik, a community living under constant threat from the Baku Salaa. With time running out, nonstop action propels the foursome through a series of risky and high-stakes events. Although the climax arrives a bit abruptly, the vivid worldbuilding and strong sense of place throughout are engaging, and Noor’s voice is well developed.

A satisfying, uplifting ending to an imaginative and original adventure.(Fantasy. 11-14)

Kirkus Reviews