The Chaos Court is a fantasy middle grade novel about 12-year-old Patience Fell, who must leave home to find her place in the world. She ends up in Whosebourne, a town where magical beings create trash hurricanes, dance holes in roofs, and send letters by crow. When Patience gets swept up into an evil magical being's plan to become king, she teams up with a boy named Linus to send the magical beings back where they came from.

This story has my favorite middle grade trope: abnormal things happening to a normal main character. Patience is a girl who is sensible, kind, and brave, and many readers will see themselves reflected in her caring and determined nature. She has no special powers, but manages to hold her own against the Fancy and magical characters using her brain and grit. I really liked that in this story, it is the female character who must be brave and tough, while Linus, her friend, is more timid and book-smart .I also appreciated that the major struggle in this story was relatively low-stakes (no lives threatened) which made the story more light and entertaining.

The Chaos Court
By Jake Burnett

This is a fantasy appropriate for a young adult readership. The protagonist is a 12 year old girl named Patience Fell. As is customary in her place and time, Patience leave her home farm and journeys to the town to find her place in the world as a broom girl.

But Patience is no ordinary girl. She is smart and brave and is not afraid to stand up for herself and others. When she arrives in the town of Whosebourne, She almost immediately meets up with an ofaltosser, a creature of fairy. She bests him in battle, but then tries to revive him. This is her first meeting with a member of the Chaos Court.

Patience does not realize it yet, but she will become the guardian of the human town against the wild forces of the Chaos Court. Along the way she meets Linus (the Keyreeve's heir) who becomes her friend and partner in discovering how this all came about.

This is somewhat of a morality play. There are several messages here: there are good and bad people no matter their social status; you must be brave and seek out truth; and you must rely on yourself to find and defend your place in life.

Obviously there will be more to the story in future volumes. I think this is a fun way to share life lessons with young adult readers.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for this ARC.