by: Dana Hammer
Series: Fanny Fitzpatrick
Genre: Middle-Grade Greek Mythology Fiction
Release Date: February 4, 2025
Publisher: Cinnabar Moth Publishing
Fanny Fitzpatrick is back again, with a whole new set of mythic problems that could ruin her friendships with Athena and Gemma.
It’s the end of the school year. For most kids, it’s time to relax and get ready for summer. For Fanny, there’s work. She has a brand-new baby brother, and she’s been hired by Zeus to look after his “injured” son. And she still has her and her friends’ cheesemaking business! Fanny is overwhelmed.
But then she meets three sirens who want Fanny to join them on Feather Island for a summer of singing, instrument playing, and fun at the beach. The program is totally free and could start an amazing musical career-the thing that Fanny has always wanted the most.
Athena and Gemma are dead set against it. Athena says that the sirens are bad news; that their whole purpose in life is to lure men to their deaths with their beautiful singing. Gemma says that Feather Island is part of a network of unmappable islands, the type of place where criminals and sketchy organizations hoard their wealth and do their crimes.
Surely, the sirens don’t do that anymore, right? All that stuff was a long time ago. If the sirens want to keep their island paradise a secret, well, that’s not so weird, is it? Fanny has talked to them, and she just knows that they aren’t as evil as everyone says. They are perfectly nice ladies.
Right?
Follow Fanny Fitzpatrick as she navigates big sisterhood, friends who disapprove of her life choices, burning ambitions, and a bunch of sirens luring her away to their private island.
Why Readers Should Love Fanny
Fanny Fitzpatrick is an ordinary girl with extraordinary friends. She has become enmeshed in the world of super-wealthy gods and goddesses, while living at home with her working-class family. It would be totally understandable if Fanny grew bitter and jealous, with so much power and magic and money flaunted in her face all the time. But Fanny isn’t that type of person. She is unashamed of her less-than-glamorous lifestyle. She understands that her lack of resources gives her perspectives and skills that her more privileged friends can’t truly access.
Fanny says yes to life. She’s not some boring girl who sits around all day. She has varied interests, and keeps busy all the time. She works hard, taking care of an “injured” god, (Dionysius) while helping to run a cheese business, leading the school’s math club, and preparing for a new baby at home. She is an extremely talented singer, and is working toward one day becoming a professional. (This is why she is so excited when the sirens recruit her to come to their summer camp on Feather Island.)
In addition, Fanny is just an all-around good person. She is kind to her competitors, helping them when they encounter difficulties like panic attacks and phobias. When she meets a new person who is a little different, she doesn’t shy away from them. She befriends them, and appreciates the things that make them special, always finding the good in everyone.
When she learns that something sinister is going on on Feather Island, she doesn’t ignore it. She understands that authority does not always equal moral superiority, and she isn’t afraid to do what’s right, even if it costs her — and in this book, it does indeed cost her! Fanny isn’t afraid to make enemies, if those enemies are doing something wrong. That kind of bravery is hard to come by, and something we should all strive for.
Fanny isn’t perfect. Sometimes her ambitions get in the way of her common sense, and she fails to listen to the advice of people who care about her. But she loves her friends and family, and is fiercely loyal, smart, and big-hearted. All in all, Fanny Fitzpatrick is the hero we all deserve, and I love her.
But I don’t have a chance to practice or not practice, because I remember that I have a Zoom date with Gemma and Athena. I head down to the computer and log in to the meeting.
Gemma and Athena are already in there, talking about something. They look serious and sour, but Gemma is wearing the most adorable newsboy hat with embroidered flowers on it, and I squeal when I see it.
“Gemma, that hat though!”
They stop talking and look at me, not smiling. I realize something weird is going on, and so I stop smiling.
“Fanny, we need to talk,” says Athena.
That’s not good.
“Um. Gemma? How’s England?” Gemma shakes her head at me.
I look back to Athena, who has crossed her arms, which makes her look like a strict disciplinarian who’s about to give me a terrible lecture. And I realize that’s exactly what’s about to happen.
“Herman told me everything,” Athena says.
“Um.”
“You let those things in your house! After I specifically told you how dangerous they are!”
“I didn’t let them in,” I say, which I realize is a wimpy thing to say, but I can’t think of anything better. “My dad did.”
“What did they want? Why were they there, at your house?”
“Well—”
“Do you have any idea how many people sirens have killed over the course of these millennia?”
“But that was a long time ago!” I say, sounding desperate and silly, even to my own ears.
“Fanny,” Gemma says, quietly, looking around to make sure no one is listening to her. “I’m not supposed to say this. But there are these islands. A few of them. And they have special deals with the UN, NATO, the African Union, and a few others that I’m not allowed to even say the names of. They have diplomatic immunity. They operate under their own laws, and they answer to no one. They’re unmappable, untraceable. I’ve been talking to Athena, and I think these islands are owned by the sirens.”
“You sound like conspiracy theorists,” I say, rolling my eyes. “How do you even know about these top-secret islands if they’re so top secret?”
“My parents,” Gemma says, like it’s obvious. I guess it should be obvious. I still have no idea what her parents do for a living, but they seem to jet around the planet a lot, with machete-bearing security guards, so I guess it must be important. Still.
“Well, Feather Island is a school. A school for musicians,” I say, trying to reassure them. “There’s a brochure and everything.”
I wish I had the brochure so I could show it to them, how lovely and harmless the place is, but my parents have put it somewhere and I don’t know where it is.
“How do you know about Feather Island?” Athena demands, looking even more furious.
Whoops. I guess I’ve gotta tell them now.
“That’s what the sirens wanted. To tell me about their music camp.”
“NO!” Athena shouts, banging her fist on the table in front of her. Splinters of wood fly everywhere and I’m kind of scared now. This is intense, even for Athena. “You can NOT go to this island. I don’t care what they told you. It’s bad news.”
Gemma and Athena are already in there, talking about something. They look serious and sour, but Gemma is wearing the most adorable newsboy hat with embroidered flowers on it, and I squeal when I see it.
“Gemma, that hat though!”
They stop talking and look at me, not smiling. I realize something weird is going on, and so I stop smiling.
“Fanny, we need to talk,” says Athena.
That’s not good.
“Um. Gemma? How’s England?” Gemma shakes her head at me.
I look back to Athena, who has crossed her arms, which makes her look like a strict disciplinarian who’s about to give me a terrible lecture. And I realize that’s exactly what’s about to happen.
“Herman told me everything,” Athena says.
“Um.”
“You let those things in your house! After I specifically told you how dangerous they are!”
“I didn’t let them in,” I say, which I realize is a wimpy thing to say, but I can’t think of anything better. “My dad did.”
“What did they want? Why were they there, at your house?”
“Well—”
“Do you have any idea how many people sirens have killed over the course of these millennia?”
“But that was a long time ago!” I say, sounding desperate and silly, even to my own ears.
“Fanny,” Gemma says, quietly, looking around to make sure no one is listening to her. “I’m not supposed to say this. But there are these islands. A few of them. And they have special deals with the UN, NATO, the African Union, and a few others that I’m not allowed to even say the names of. They have diplomatic immunity. They operate under their own laws, and they answer to no one. They’re unmappable, untraceable. I’ve been talking to Athena, and I think these islands are owned by the sirens.”
“You sound like conspiracy theorists,” I say, rolling my eyes. “How do you even know about these top-secret islands if they’re so top secret?”
“My parents,” Gemma says, like it’s obvious. I guess it should be obvious. I still have no idea what her parents do for a living, but they seem to jet around the planet a lot, with machete-bearing security guards, so I guess it must be important. Still.
“Well, Feather Island is a school. A school for musicians,” I say, trying to reassure them. “There’s a brochure and everything.”
I wish I had the brochure so I could show it to them, how lovely and harmless the place is, but my parents have put it somewhere and I don’t know where it is.
“How do you know about Feather Island?” Athena demands, looking even more furious.
Whoops. I guess I’ve gotta tell them now.
“That’s what the sirens wanted. To tell me about their music camp.”
“NO!” Athena shouts, banging her fist on the table in front of her. Splinters of wood fly everywhere and I’m kind of scared now. This is intense, even for Athena. “You can NOT go to this island. I don’t care what they told you. It’s bad news.”
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We appreciate you featuring FANNY FITZPATRICK AND THE SIRENS today. Thank you.
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