Ballad of the Magpie

by Jessica Alpart

Her mother was music. When she died, so did it.

Grief is a tricky path to navigate, which is why Leora Walker chose to ignore it. Until one day, when it smacks her in the head. Literally.

Upon finding a collection of her mother's music, Leora is transported to a set of new worlds, one for each song that plays. Joined by a comically cryptic magpie, she embarks on a journey through the unknown, unraveling pieces of her mother and pieces of herself along the way.

A moonlit meadow. A wandering woods. A school where time does not exist.

Leora hopes to find out what it all means. Find something to help her, to move on from the broken record her life has become. But even paths can be misleading, and sometimes the end is only a fork in the road.

241 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 17, 2025

Reviews

[Haley]

i’ve never been a real fan of fantasy novels because i often find it hard to picture the settings and become immersed into the world. i had no issues at all with ballad of the magpie because each song’s world was written so vividly that it took almost no effort to imagine what the scenes looked like. i loved reading my sister’s words and connecting pieces of her life to the story. it made me think about family and friends of famous authors and if they pick out connections from their books too.
honored to be the first goodreads review of this book!

[Jessica]

I won't rate my own book, but I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed it. I was ready to notice every missed error (which of course there were some) and to want to change parts now that time has passed. That wasn't the case though! I poured my heart into this story and I am so happy with how it came out.