num_pages: 421
description: In Abarat, accomplished novelist and artist Clive Barker turns his considerable talents to creating a rich fantasy world for young adults. Candy Quackenbush is growing up in Chickentown, Minnesota, yearning for more--which she finds, quite unexpectedly, when a man with eight heads appears from nowhere in the middle of the prairie, being chased by something really monstrous. And so begins Candy's epic adventure to the islands of the Abarat. Peopled by all manner of creatures, cultures, and customs, the islands should prove a fertile setting for the series that Barker is calling The Books of Abarat. Candy is an intelligent and likable heroine, and the many supporting characters are deftly drawn, both in words and in the full-color interior art that Barker has produced to give the story an extra dimension. Abarat delivers the rich and imaginative storytelling that Barker is known for, with less overt horror or violence than one of his adult novels might include. However, Candy's path isn't an easy one, and young adult readers should appreciate the hard choices she must make along the way. --Roz Genessee
language: English
title: Abarat
titlecomplete: Abarat
characters: Christopher Carrion, Rojo Pixler, Samuel Hastrim Klepp the Fifth, Jimothi Tarrie, Norma Lipnik, Otto Houlihan, Candy Francesca Quackenbush, Mendelson Shape, Malingo, Kaspar Wolfswinkel, John Mischief, Bill Quackenbush, Melissa Quackenbush
genres: Young Adult, Childrens, Adventure, Science Fiction Fantasy, Teen, Magic, Horror, Fiction, Young Adult Fantasy, Fantasy
ratings_count: 27946
series: Abarat
awards: awardedAt: 1009872000000
name: Borders Original Voices Award
category: YA or Independent Reader
publisher: HarperCollins