How to Save a Unicorn

by Meg Cannistra

Overview

To save a unicorn’s life, Giada the Healer will have to risk it all.

Giada Bellantuono has traveled all the way from Italy to New York City to follow her dreams: begin her official training as a magical veterinarian! It wasn’t easy going against generations of family tradition, not to mention saving said family from wicked witches.

But when Giada hears rumors of a lost baby unicorn roaming the tri-state area, she has reason to suspect that the Streghe del Malocchio are back and behind the disappearance. She’s fought them once before, and she can do it again! With the help of some unlikely friends, Giada will have to venture beneath the city into Olde Yorque and put everything on the line to save the creatures that she loves.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781335458025
Publisher:	Inkyard Press
Publication date:	10/03/2023
Series:	A Giada the Healer Novel , #2
Edition description:	Original
Pages:	256
Product dimensions:	5.61(w) x 8.47(h) x 0.84(d)
Age Range:	8 - 12 Years

About the Author

Meg Cannistra grew up in Sarasota, Florida. After living in New York City and northern New Jersey for a few years, Meg now resides with her husband, two cats, and dog in Charlotte, North Carolina. Her middle grade book, The Trouble with Shooting Stars, is currently on shelves. When she’s not taking pictures of her cats, she writes magical, mysterious, and sometimes scary stories. You can find her on Twitter and Instagram at @MegCannistra and learn more about her books at MegCannistra.com.

Editorial Reviews

2023-08-11
Another magical rescue mission with friends old and new.

In this follow-up to How to Heal a Gryphon (2022), Giada Bellantuono, a 13-year-old from Italy, is living in New Jersey for a yearlong strega apprenticeship with her friend Massimo “Moss” Calamoneri and his magical parents. She and Moss are studying to become magical vets. They have animal familiars that only they can communicate with—Giada’s is black cat Sinistro, while Moss has Ofelia, a white dove. Giada goes on house calls, but Moss’ Crohn’s disease has kept him home lately as his family works on a treatment plan. Alessia, Giada’s best friend from Italy, who’s apprenticing with a family in Chicago, comes to town, seeking to humanely capture a lost unicorn. Giada and Moss tag along, but they show up to find the unicorn has been taken. Always prioritizing others’ well-being, Giada insists they go in search of the unicorn. Their adventures lead them to meet gryphons called Jersey Devils and take them to New York City, where they encounter gargoyles and underground populations of some of Giada’s former foes. Cannistra weaves another enchanting tale centering a passionate, tenacious protagonist who gains strength from her steadfast friends. The journey proffers lessons in adapting to change and approaching events and people with an open mind. Amid a diverse supporting cast, Moss is biracial with a mother who is cued Black, and a father who reads white.

Tremendous fun for fans of magical creatures. (Fantasy. 8-13)

Kirkus Reviews

Praise for How to Heal a Gryphon:

“Take one headstrong, lovable heroine, one snarky cat familiar, a family of gryphons, a rich and immersive magical world plus a search for a missing brother and you get How to Heal a Gryphon, a funny, fantastical mystery with nods to Italian history and mythology. Perfect for fans of Rick Riordan.”—Laura Ruby, Two-Time National Book Award Finalist and author of the YORK Trilogy

“I could live with these characters and in this world for a good long while. Bring on the sequel!" —New York Times bestselling author Julie Murphy

“Cannistra’s entertaining narrative features wonderful descriptions of places and events that will transport readers. Stupenda!” — Kirkus Reviews

“Via a world where magic and modern medicine coexist, and a secret spell-casting community lives undetected year-round, Cannistra writes a compassionate quest that interrogates tradition, legacy, and humans’ effect on the natural world.” — Publishers Weekly

"Cannistra's wonderfully engrossing and atmospheric story is replete with intriguing Italian folklore, locations, and language... Giada is a joy to befriend; she’s aware of her shortcomings but also confident in her magic, and she unapologetically delights in her fat body and all that it’s capable of. It’s worth a trip to this enchanting (and enchanted) Italian coast." — Booklist

From the Publisher

I could live with these characters and in this world for a good long while. Bring on the sequel!”

Julie Murphy