It could’ve begun as a side comment, or maybe even a dare. Write a book that has an action backbone, with the heart and emotive lessons that are age-appropriate, and entertaining, for upper-elementary and mglit audiences, with a moth as the main character. A moth. That flighty, lightweight, seemingly pointless creature who is hopelessly attracted to light and the punchline to a classic Norm Macdonald joke and its nemesis, Gregory Illininivich. Author Katherine Orton heard this sidebar, slipped into her moth exoskeleton, said hold this light and created The Traitor Moth. This is the first in the Moon Realm fantasy book series that lives in the world of eight through twelve-year-old, reading-because-it’s-awesome space.
If you have a student or child in fourth through eighth grade, they know the world of Warriors. The Moon Realm series, and The Traitor Moth will appeal to those who like Warriors. Of course, this is the go-to mglit fantasy book series about feral cats, and not the cult movie from 1979 or basketball team from California. Young readers know that book series and won’t conflate them, but anytime we get to hawk that movie we take advantage of it.
The Traitor Moth is cut from that same cloth. It’s emblematic of fantasy within plain sight. Kids have seen a moth and it’s fun to imagine a hierarchy that exists in their world. These moths also have gifts; abilities to do certain things that differentiate them from others. Our protagonist is Catclaw. He’s a Dreamkin, which means that his people are granted the ability to see visions from the future. However, his people have made mistakes, and their gift has been rescinded.
Early in the book, Catclaw receives a terrible vision. It warns that all the moth groups are in danger. He shares the message with his own people (moths), but they don’t believe him, so he takes the vision on the road. Catclaw is not the hero kind of moth. He’s scared and hasn’t come into his own yet, so for him to leave his people and travel to other kingdoms is a major undertaking. Not only that, he’s got to convince the other tribes that his vision is legitimate, even though his own people don’t believe him.
This book knows its audience. The chapters are crafted in a way that makes ages eight and up want to read it. When the chapter’s ending calls for a cliffhangers to build tension it’s there. It was the exoskeleton of a moth. The book was ruined. Follow me. They parry and lunge with equal measure. It knows when it’s time to add value to the plot, and when to make the reader proceed to the next chapter, even though they’re a little tired.
The Traitor Moth is fantasy adventure whose audience is game to read about new things. They’re down with to follow a bunch of feral cats and will eagerly fly along with these light-attracted insects. It quickly establishes the world and readers know that there are lots of other things in the forest that mothkind could have fun with too. Eager young readers will be already fan-fictioning meet-ups, like if Catclaw discovers a caterpillar or high altitude creatures. Books like this will be a kid’s best book friend, until they aren’t. For a phase of their middle-school life, some kids will devour any adventure-fantasy that you toss their way, and the Moon Realm series, starting with The Traitor Moth is a great jumping off point.
The Traitor Moth is by Katharine Orton and available on Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, an imprint of Simon & Schuster.
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