Gravity is failing. Hair is rising. Dogs are floating. And a mysterious yellow bus is collecting volunteers for training no one will explain. Twelve-year-old Carli Rockell makes clay handprints on her potting shed wall—one for every year she’s been forgotten—because the Devoridges would rather pretend she doesn’t exist. Her brother Devlin calls her Freakeyes. Her one friend is a talking bonsai named Friend. And she’s learned to hide her blue eye from a world that stares.

Then, the  bus comes for her. What Carli discovers at Harbornacles Sanctuary of Primørdial Arts defies anything she could have imagined: a living tree-fortress where apprentices learn to wield the primørdial forces that hold reality together. Where a Flying Kitchen floats on spaghetti pillars and food carries memories. Where her mismatched eyes aren’t a flaw—they’re the reason she was hidden.

What’s worse, something with metal feet has been hunting her since. The cosmic Tree of Life is uprooted and dying. The Fire Seed that could save it has vanished. And the truth about who Carli really is—and why she was hidden—is more dangerous than she ever imagined.

Some children are born ordinary. Carli Rockell was born necessary.

For readers who crave Studio Ghibli wonder with Roald Dahl’s sharp edge.

An original orchestral soundtrack accompanies the story, now available for streaming—composed in the spirit of Joe Hisaishi.

Additional Notes:

This ARC may contain minor errors not present in the final published edition.

CARLI ROCKELL AND THE FIRE SEED is Book One of the Primørdiya trilogy.

The world of Primørdiya features a fully constructed language created by the author—Primørdian—with its own grammar, vocabulary, and cultural context, woven naturally into the story.

An original 22-track orchestral soundtrack accompanies the book, produced in the spirit of Joe Hisaishi and available for streaming. Music and story were developed together as a unified creative experience.

The book concludes with an illustrated in-world recipe collection from the Gustallini family—part cookbook, part love letter to the Flying Kitchen and the story’s warmth and humor.

Published by Otherworld Entertainment.

K.S.R. Kingworth is the author of Secret Speakers, which received a starred review from School Library Journal.