It is a rare thing indeed to find an author with as much command of language as Hayley Chewins. I was so floored reading this that I gasped out loud and hugged the book--I RARELY EVER HUG THE BOOK. But the imagination, the language, the poetry of the words and story, it all came together so perfectly I fell right into the cloister with Delphernia, who was such a joy. This is a story for anyone who's been pushed down and fought tooth and nail to rise. A book-friend for anyone yearning to sing, who perhaps never thought they could. This author is a new favorite, and I can't wait for everyone to read the magic of THE TURNAWAY GIRLS!

Although this one sounded interesting to me, I was not able to get into it. The characters just didn't grab me and I lost interest. I know others will be interested in it though.

This book has an enchanting story, filled with imagination, and is told with beautiful writing. I look forward to reading more from the author.

This lovely book is filled with music, music, music. It brims with it. It sings. I could get lost in the rhythm of the prose and live there forever. Simply gorgeous. 💚

This was a beautiful story written to transport you to a different world. An important story about empowerment and identity that I will definitely recommend to students!

Magical lyrical prose with a uniquely described world that the reader can definitely delve into. The story is definitely beautifully written and brings us a powerful message of self identity, self worth and empowerment

Not very sure if it would keep a child's attention but I'd still recommend.

*Thank you to the author and Netgalley for giving me an ARC in exchange for an honest review*

Twelve year old Delphernia has lived her entire life shut in a cloister in a cave with other girls where they make shimmer out of music. The people who live in the city depend on the gold made by the girls who have never seen the city or known freedom. Delphernia is unable to make shimmer and is mistreated by the sister who runs the cloister. When she is unexpectedly set free she learns that the world is not what she thought it was.

Hailey Chewins' debut is written with deliciously poetic language, pulsing with an achingly beautiful call to find one's own voice.

Turnaway Girls follows the point of view of Delphernia who has been hidden away and told her only purpose is to serve others by turning their music into gold. The problem is, Delphernia has music inside her too which muddles her place in a rigid society. She tries to hide her secret, but someone has already found her out. When she leaves the cloister with a strange young man, can she keep her secret hidden?
The strength of this novel lies in Delphernia's narration - she is not quite reliable in that her worldview has been so limited and manipulated. Being included as a reader in her slow but believable revelations about the world around her provides an earnest perspective and adds an interesting flavor to the story.

This book equal parts charmed and confused me, to be honest. I wanted to be swept away by Delphernia and her story, but my mind kept trying to understand exactly why Blightsend existed as it did and why the Turnaway Girls were part of it. It almost felt like I was dropped in the middle of a story. As magical as things were, I just needed that little extra foothold to feel a part of the story.

What I can say, is that Hayley Chewins has created a beautiful world in The Turnaway Girls. Despite any qualms that I may have had, I thoroughly enjoyed my trip through Blightsend. I'm eager to see what this author comes out with next.

Raised in a shelter cloister with other young women, Delphernia Undersea is a 12-year-old Turnaway Girl: girls raised to be silent, invisible; to weave male Masters' music into gold they call "shimmmer". Delphina is well aware of her place in society - Mother Nine beats it into her regularly enough - but still has a rebellious streak in her. While she can't make shimmer, she can sing; a forbidden action in this world. Girls are told that the sea waits to swallow girls with musical throats, but Delphernia must sing, so she does so in secret until the day a young Master named Bly comes to claim her. Once out of the cloister, Delphernia's world opens up, befriending a trans girl named Linna, who calls herself a Master and wears a dress covered in bells. Delphernia spends time with Bly, discovering more about him and his sister, the Childer-Queen, and in so doing, discovers more about herself and the society she moves through. It's time for rebellion, and Delphernia holds the key.

Wow. This book is high literary fantasy that has the gift of empowering readers. Delphernia is a strong, intelligent heroine who motivates those around her. This is a male-driven society that doesn't want music, free thought, or questions. They twist the truth to suit their means, but this next generation of children is about to bring it all down. Hayley Chewins' weaves gold - shimmer - with words that nearly brought me to tears as I read. I was Facebooking and texting passages from this book to my friends, family, and coworkers over the last two days, because I could not keep these words inside me.

This is how you talk to middle graders. This is how you write middle grade fantasy that makes a statement, always respecting your readers. This is fantasy that holds our society up to a mirror and lets readers see for themselves how change is theirs to make. Diverse and gender fluid characters, discussions about gender roles and corrupt leaders, and a tale of self-discovery, magic, and music put this firmly on my must-read, must-have list, and my Newbery and Hugo watch lists.

The Turnaway Girls has a starred review from Kirkus. Author Hayley Chewins has a playlist for the book available on her blog.

Thank you NetGalley for this Advanced Digital Copy in exchange for my honest feedback.
This book was on my radar after one of the MG librarians that I follow gushed about this book. I also follow Hayley on twitter so when I was accepted for the Advanced Reader Copy I was super excited. My fear is that I’m not going to be able to fully convey how I feel about this book. I ADORED everything about this book. The writing style , the descriptions, the characters and the theme. It was just so good. Not only is this a book I would recommend for my nieces – it’s a book that I will re-read. Also – Hayley posted a song on twitter that goes with this book. I really wish I would have listened to the song before reading as I can just imagine Delphernia’s voice being like Hayley’s.

The Turnaway Girls started as a very unique, very beautiful story but quickly descended into more of the same in the form of fantasy metaphor. It essentially reads like The Great Illustrated Classics version of The Handmaid’s Tale, where women are oppressed and made silent, and men are all terrible and oppressive. While the writing is poetic and beautiful, I’m not sure the reading audience for which the story is intended will quite get much out of the deeper, political narrative it seems the author is trying to convey.

Our main character, Delphernia, possesses the ability to make music-and gold-from her own voice instead of using the music of others to do so. She wishes to be free of the oppressive, hateful headmistress of the convent (for lack of a better term to describe the place). The only problem is that Delphernia is a Turnaway Girl, a girl that turned away from her reflection in a mirror, and she is not even supposed to make noise-only transform the noise of others who are skilled in making music (males known as “Masters”) into gold. Essentially, Delphernia is a slave.

After we meet Delphernia, the rest of the book entails a very slowly moving plot that loses focus on the events of the story and picks up right at the end, after all of the characters are introduced and painted, very flatly, as good or bad, for about 70% of the book. As a result, the mythology is shallow-the main part of the book that drew me to be interested in it. By the end of the novel, the plot is lost in the subliminal message. If this were YA instead of Middle Grade, the book would be more effective.

This book was extremely descriptive in the beginning almost to the point of slowing down the pace of the action. I really liked the lyrical nature of the prose as an adult but it may not keep the attention of younger readers who are used to an attention-grabbing beginning.

I felt the world was very unique and described in such a way that the reader is completely submerged. There are some moments of abuse towards the main character. There are themes of being told you are nothing and rising above. There are deep themes of identity, self-worth, and it is an overall empowering message.

Thank you to Netgalley and Candlewick Press for a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A gorgeous cover, The Turnaway Girls is a beautiful middle grade book that leads with the message of being your true self.

I wasn't sure what to think of this book, but once I got halfway through, I really started liking it a lot.



Delphernia is a turnaway girl.  She is being raised with the other turnaway girls by Mother Nine.  Mother Nine is extremely abusive (trigger warning).  The turnaway girls make shimmer (gold) when they hear music, but Delphernia can't make it.  She would prefer to sing, but girls who sing are taken by the sea.



The Masters come to take away some of the girls.  They play music and the girls make their shimmer.  Delphernia wasn't chosen at first, but then a boy showed up later to take her with.  The night before, that same boy heard Delphernia singing.  Her singing also created golden birds.



After she leaves the cloister, Delphernia spends time with Linna, a girl Master.  She trusts Linna with her secrets.  Something happens that puts Linna's life in danger.  Delphernia needs to try to overcome her fears, forget everything she was taught, and save Linna.



This was a beautifully written story about a girl who was told she was nothing and realizes her self worth.  



I gave this book 4 stars.  Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for providing me an arc for review.

Thank you to the publisher and author for giving me a digital copy of this book via netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

I had a hard time with this book. I seemed to be missing something and felt several times during the book that I had missed a couple of pages somehow. I kept having the feeling that I was not getting all of the information but I hadn't missed any pages. It wasn't a difficult story to follow, but it didn't flow either. I cant imagine young readers staying interested. The storyline is based on this pressure and fear but the writing doesn't help us to get a sense of it. It seems rushed, simplified, and missing. I couldn't care much about the characters or what happened. I didn't get the urgency or the tension. I just didn't get this book and wouldn't recommend it to others. It missed the mark for me.

*I received a free copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.*

Rating: 4.5 out of 5

What an absolutely magical, heartfelt, wonderful story. I can't begin to describe how wonderful this book is. Even as an adult, this story is so much and if I'd read it fifteen years ago, it easily would have been a favorite. I wasn't sure how weird this was going to be, because the description is a bit strange, but it is absolutely wonderful and if you like fantasy at all, definitely give this a read, because: Wow!

Chewins has created a fascinating world in which everything has a place and function. Girls who turn away from their reflections as infants are trained as "turnaway girls," growing up separate from the outside world to learn how to turn music into gold. Boys with a talent for music become music-makers and get to choose a turnaway girl for themselves once they become of age. There is no room for differences or otherness. On top of that, one man is trying to take complete control for himself and is doing this by cutting down everyone else. There are cautionary tales about the one who was different and didn't conform, so she was swallowed by the sea; children are warned by this story to make sure to fall in line. Also, not only are the turnaway girls now separate from the rest of society, but their matron has been taught how to take away all their curiosity as well; who they are as individuals are literally sucked away by a woman following orders so that they can fall into line with the rest of society.

So you have the main character who is a turnaway girl; she is supposed to be silent, but she loves to sing. I absolutely loved that Chewins added a Music-Maker who decided she didn't want to act like a boy anymore. It was such a powerful moment when the main character realized that she wasn't the only "other" in the universe; there were people like her who didn't fit this mold that their society had created for themselves. Even just the descriptions of the main character hiding away to sing were so poignant and moving and so relatable; I think we've all had those moments where we take time for ourselves just to be ourselves without having to worry about others' judgments.

This story speaks to a deeper sense about power, identity, and the lengths people go to in order to not rock the boat or get in trouble. It's a powerful tale that younger people will appreciate so much, made beautiful and fascinating by the narrative Chewins has woven around these issues. I can't recommend this book enough. It's amazing.

ARC Copy...Very good world building around this dark oceanic and song filled world plus it doesn't hurt to have female leads lead the narrative of "this has to change" story.

Set in a world where masters play music and girls spin it into gold, this is a brilliantly original story: lyrical and mystical and so beautifully written, with a strong protagonist and an empowering message. Hayley Chewins is a phenomenal writer, and this is definitely one to watch.