National Network for Equitable Library Service

Fifteen-year-old Alina comes from a long line of women who have gone to serve on the Isle of the Weavers, and she has always dreamed of doing the same. Her older sister is going to inherit the farm. She hasn’t found any boy in the village that she’s attracted to, like her other sister. And she loves her 10-year-old brother, but he’s getting to be a pain to look after all the time. Still, a girl must be chosen to be a weaver, and Alina’s already older than others were when they were called. Then the weavers come. Her dreams come true, and she’s taken to the Isle of Weaving, where the destiny of the world is born. Alina enters a long period of mental/spiritual training to prepare her to be a weaver. But she struggles with her trademark impatience. To the amusement of her trainers, she’s anxious to begin weaving after only a few months training. Then Alina is asked to take spools of thread to the weaving room, and she gets her first glimpse of the awesome tapestry, with its multitude of threads, and colours, and shifting patterns. Left alone for a minute, she discovers a red thread – red like her own hair – which is short and broken, and she impulsively takes a strand of her hair and ties the red thread to a tawny thread nearby. Immediately, thousands of other threads in the tapestry break. What has she done? The tapestry reflects what goes on in the world, as well as affecting events. By reconnecting a thread that was meant to be broken, she has caused the end of thousands of other threads/lives. She must undo what she has done and the story begins. Get lost in a magical time where adventure and danger abound and the strength of our heroine, Alina, is put to the test.