Bird of a Thousand Stories

by Kiyash Monsef

Overview

Notes From Your Bookseller

Marjan's magical adventures continue with her search for an elusive bird. But might the quest cost her more than she's ready to lose?

In this “breathless...entrancing” (Kirkus Reviews, starred review) companion to the New York Times bestselling Once There Was that’s perfect for fans of Impossible Creatures, Marjan travels around the globe in search of a mythical bird in terrible danger, whose fate could determine the future of the world.

Marjan Dastani is successfully leading a double life. Only a few people know that when she’s not in school, she travels the world taking care of mythical beasts, sent on missions by a shadowy organization known as The Fells.

In an adventure that takes her across continents and connects her with the wildest of mythic beasts around the globe, Marjan must track down the fabled Bird of a Thousand Stories before someone with more nefarious plans finds it. But the more closely she connects with the world’s mythical creatures, the more danger she’s in of losing her friendships—and all that tethers her to the life she’s known.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781665928533
Publisher:	Simon & Schuster Books For Young Readers
Publication date:	02/04/2025
Series:	Once There Was
Pages:	352
Product dimensions:	5.60(w) x 8.50(h) x 1.30(d)
Age Range:	10 - 18 Years

About the Author

Kiyash Monsef is an Emmy Award–nominated producer and director; a writer of short stories, videos, comic books, and games; and a designer of innovative conversational and voice interface experiences. He’s the author of Once There Was, which was a finalist for the Morris Award, and Bird of a Thousand Stories.

Read an Excerpt

The Bird of a Thousand Stories THE BIRD OF A THOUSAND STORIES
ONCE WAS, ONCE WASN’T.

Every morning in the old city of Nishapur, two orphaned girls fed the sparrows that roosted nightly in the junipers, the cotoneaster, and the almond trees.

The city in those days was rich with gold, spices, and silk. Its roads were wide and smooth, its squares bustled with trade, and its gardens bloomed, lush and fragrant, with jasmine and pomegranates. But poor is always the same, even in the most prosperous of cities, and the orphans of our story were as poor as could be. They lived on the streets. They worked for pennies and bits of dried bread, and slept in the gardens when they were not chased away.

The sparrows were the orphans’ only friends, as no one in that great city wanted the burden of caring for two more children, and girls at that. But the sparrows were grateful for the crumbs of bread and bits of grain that the orphans saved to share with them. And one day they showed their thanks by teaching the orphans the language of the birds.

“Children,” said the sparrows, “we thank you for your kindness. But we cannot bear your suffering any longer. You must seek out the Bulbul-e-Hazar-Dastan, the Bird of a Thousand Stories. It knows everything there is to know, and it will reunite you with your families.”

Neither girl had any memory of their true families, nor had they ever dreamed of being reunited with them. All either one knew of their lives were the cruel orphanage where they had first met, and the harsh streets where they now lived. And, though they did not admit it, or perhaps even realize it at the time, the sparrows’ song touched something deep inside both of them—a secret hope that maybe they were not so alone.

And so the two orphans set out to find the Bird of a Thousand Stories. They were full of hope and confidence because they were clever and brave, and because they knew the language of the birds, and because the world could only get better for them. But what the sparrows did not tell the orphans was that the Bird of a Thousand Stories was held captive by a witch, and was guarded by an evil giant in the faraway castle of Come-and-Never-Go.

Maybe these sparrows did not know about the witch and the giant and the castle of Come-and-Never-Go. Or maybe they did, and chose to keep these details to themselves.

Sometimes, especially at the start of a journey, it’s best not to know such things.

Editorial Reviews

"The Bird of a Thousand Stories shimmers with the fantastic but is rooted in all too real emotions and so much heart. Monsef creates worlds and creatures you long to revisit again and again. This book left me stunned and forever enchanted."

Erin A. Craig

★ 2024-10-26
A teenager’s mission to help distressed magical creatures takes her into dangerous places and deadly situations in this folk tale–infused sequel toOnce There Was (2023).

The stakes rise considerably this time around: Over the course of encounters with eldritch supernatural beings and a reclusive Persian cousin of (as it turns out) uncertain reliability, Marjan Dastani, now 16, learns that a legendary bird that brings stories to the world is about to be reborn. As a hatchling, it will be vulnerable to foes—notably the Fells, a ruthless organization of magical animal traffickers that is, to Marjan’s deep disgust, her main employer. Interspersing his chapters with fragmentary folk tales featuring orphans, quests, monsters, the titular bird, and hints of profound truths, Monsef sends his rousingly intense and sometimes difficult protagonist all over the map, from Berkeley to Istanbul, Rio de Janeiro, and remotest Finland. Hoping to find and protect the Bird, Marjan embarks on a headlong series of tests, betrayals, reversals, revelations, and confrontations. Better yet, along with dishing up a diverse human cast linked by refreshingly nuanced relationships, the author endows the supernatural being with subtle and surprising natures, abilities, and agendas. “The fae are fickle,” says one character. “One day they sing you the sweetest song. The next day they eat your cat.” Even jaded fantasy readers won’t be able to help but be beguiled.

Breathless adventures in richly imagined settings—an entrancing sequel. (source notes)(Fantasy. 10-14)

Kirkus Reviews

"An empowering message of how all things are connected, and a healthy dose of folklore and mythology."

Booklist

★ "Breathless adventures in richly imagined settings—an entrancing sequel."

Kirkus Review