About The Book
The Society of Sylphs is about a young sylph named Luranna who is having a hard time fitting in because she doesn't want to deliver messages - which is what sylphs do!
Fortunately, Luranna meets Eddie, a non-speaking autistic boy, who understands her. Luranna and Eddie develop a friendship that leads to personal growth for each of them. Eddie helps Luranna overcome her fears so she can deliver messages as well as any sylph...and Luranna helps Eddie cope with family tragedy.
Together, they learn ways to balance the drive for self-expression with the desire to be a part of the societies they belong to.
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Excerpt from The Society of Sylphs:
“Can they see us?” Luranna asked.
“Only a few humans can see Sylphs,” Alenya said. “Most spend their lives only aware of their own world.“
“Why?”
“Because they have lots of other things to think about,” Alenya said, watching the bustle of activity below them.
Alenya could see that her apprentice was getting a little overwhelmed by all this and took her by the hand and led her down off the cloud. They came to rest at the top of a flag flying in the breeze.
Luranna had so many questions she didn’t know what to ask first. She was spinning around, excited....thrilled....fascinated, to see and hear all this activity! She couldn’t take it all in. Her eyes were scanning back and forth trying to find some way to understand it all. The humans looked strange, but familiar at the same time.
“Just watch and listen, Luranna,” Alenya finally said. Her green eyes sparkled with a touch of blue. “You will learn. It is good for you to understand humans as much as possible, because we are connected to them.”
“Connected?” Luranna asked, looking around her as if searching for some sort of ribbon or cord of attachment. “How?”
“You will know it all very soon, but for now, come with me and I will show you the thrill of sharing our air space with humans.”
Alenya leaned slightly from her spot upon the flag, took Luranna’s hand, and caught the steady air current.
“Look, some of them have shells.” Luranna said, pointing.
“No, dear. Those are machines, the cars they move around in.”
They landed softly on top of a swing set in a nearby playground.
They sat and watched for a while. Luranna couldn’t help smiling as she watched the human children running, climbing, and laughing. One or two were crying, but most were laughing. Luranna liked this energy of the children. She liked how they made her feel inside.
Then Alenya directed Luranna to one of the children on a swing. “Try this,” Alenya said as she pulled Luranna closer to the swinging child. They joined the air current that the child was creating by swinging back and forth. Luranna was exhilarated. She never felt anything like this before. Her body could effortlessly blow back and forth with the air around the girl on the swing. It was even better when the girl stretched her legs out and pulled them back to bring the swing higher.
“This is ten times more fun than riding the winds of a storm!” Luranna said.
The girl on the swing laughed and Luranna laughed with her.
“This is great!” Luranna yelled. Then she caught an air current off the height of the swing and directed herself to a child climbing a ladder. She was able to catch the swift current with the boy as he whooshed down the slide. Wanting more, Luranna went with the next child and the next, for hours, jumping from one child to the next until the playground was empty.
Finally, exhausted and exhilarated, Luranna drifted back up to the clouds to tell Alenya everything.
Excerpted from The Society of Sylphs by Lea M. Hill.
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No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the author.
