Book Recommendation: FLY BY NIGHT

I picked up this book by Frances Hardinge in 2005 and have read it four times.

And for me, It's amazing if I ever read a book twice.

PLOT

Mosca Mye is of the few girls who can read, in a world where printed words are dangerous.

And she loves words.

 ...the words had shapes in her mind. she memorized them, and stroked them in her thoughts like the curved backs of cats.

 To escape the watery town of Chough she helps a smooth-talking con-man escape the stocks.

From there she's tossed headfirst into rivalry between those who rule the land, rule the sea, and those that rule words.

An ill-tempered goose.

A dashing highwayman.

A woman with a snow-white scar.

A duke obbsessed with symmetry.

And the words that catch hold of Mosca and never let go. 

VERDICT

I love this book, not only for its story but for the words.

I’ve always been a sucker for a well-turned Hardinge verse.
~Elizabeth Bird 

Well said Elizabeth.

But it's also how the story is about words, and the power of words.

And so for a writer, I think it makes an excellent book.

Or for anyone who cares to join Mosca in what I think to be one of the best books out there.