Farlands

On the run, fourteen-year-old Claire Dunn has a problem. Her mother is...gone. Claire doesn't know where. Her sailor father is at sea. And now, just by accident, she's killed her only other living relative, her abusive Aunt Jane, in a fight. Murderers are hanged in Fortress City. Until Claire's own injuries have healed enough to allow her to slip away to sea to find her father, she needs to hide. A secret room in the town library seems to provide an ideal refuge-until the day someone slides a key into the lock and walks in. Claire's visitor is the rich and well-connected Sarah Farmer. Seeing in the girl a kindred spirit to her late husband River's, she offers Claire a chance at a better life. But first there is a disturbing mystery for Claire to solve, lessons to learn, a troubled child to nurture, and smugglers and pirates to defeat before she can accept the gift. The third book in the Antlands series, Farlands is an adventure novel that explores themes of trust, self-awareness and coming of age in a post-apocalyptic setting.