And what if our ancestors stay with us in spirit to help in times of need?
Jasbinder Bilan
My first thanks go to my huge and loving family, who have waved the victory flags for me all along the way, from the moment I picked up my pen to the wonderful moment of seeing it in print. In age order: Balraj, Sherry, Randhiraj, Dip, and Amolack, and of course to my lovely mum, Gurjinder, and my dad, who made the best milk kulfi! To my uncle Gael, who cried when I was the first to go to university, and to my cousins Mindy, Michael, and Sunny. To my uncle Lashkar and aunt Paramjeet for the happy memories of countryside adventures with lashings of cake and tea.
Heartfelt thanks to my husband, Ian, for his patience throughout and for not allowing me to starve while I spent long hours writing, and also to my sons, Gem and Satchen, for continuously asking how it was all going.
The seed for Asha and the Spirit Bird was first sown when I bravely quit my teaching job and enrolled in the amazing MA Creative Writing for Young People course at Bath Spa University. Thank you to my tutors: Julia Green for being there from the start, Steve Voake for his positivity and suggestion for a kapow opening, and Lucy Christopher for showing me the magic of pushing your setting as far as it will let you. To Janine Amos and John McLay for sharing their extensive knowledge of the publishing world. Thank you to Barry Cunningham, Kesia Lupo, and the panel of judges for choosing my story to win the 2017 Times/Chicken House prize over all the other amazing ones—you made my dream come true! To all the team at Chicken House, especially Kesia for being such an insightful editor. To Dion Mehaga Bangun Djayasaputra for creating the most beautiful cover. It gave me tingly goose bumps when I first saw the way he imagined my spirit bird. Huge thanks also to Elizabeth Parisi. To Sam Palazzi for loving my story and taking it across the ocean to sing its praises, and to the Scholastic team for welcoming it with open arms. Thanks also to Jazz Bartlett, Laura Myers, and Elinor Bagenal.
To the wonderful Ben, my agent, for his enthusiasm and expert eye, and for finding me glittering sea gifts.
To my friend Judy, who I know would have adored my story and is always with me in spirit.
A massive thank-you to Miranda and Mel, who really are the dream team. You were there from the very beginning. You told it how it was, gave me just what I needed when I needed it … tissues, tea, champagne. I couldn’t have done this without you.
To fellow writers at Bath Spa MAWYP: Sarah, Carlyn, Wendy, Jennifer, Charlotte, and Tracy for continuing to drink tea and eat cake at every opportunity. To Cal Sharp for all her technical wizardry in helping me navigate the world of websites.
Thank you to dear Rachael and my young readers Bel and Mintie for loving Asha’s story without reservation.
To the amazing staff at my primary school, Mellers in Nottingham, especially Mr. Stanton and Mr. Ferrigan, who packed fun, songs, and laughter into their schoolbags every day, and to Mrs. Wallis, who let me be creative and who taught me to never give up.
To the brave huntress Sarah Driver, author extraordinaire, for all her encouragement and for her endorsement.
Finally, a huge thank-you to my readers. I hope you’ve enjoyed this book—without you, would it simply be a story gathering dust? The magic happens once the cover is opened and you decide to enter.
According to family stories, JASBINDER BILAN was born in a stable in the foothills of the Himalayas. She graduated from Bath Spa University, where the seeds of this story were nurtured, but it was the incredible bond with her grandmother that was the inspiration for Asha and the Spirit Bird. She lives with her husband, her two teenage boys, and her dog, Enzo, and splits her time between teaching and writing.
Copyright © 2019, 2020 by Jasbinder Bilan
All rights reserved. Published by Chicken House, an imprint of Scholastic Inc., Publishers since 1920. SCHOLASTIC, CHICKEN HOUSE, and associated logos are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Scholastic Inc.
First published in the United Kingdom in 2019 by Chicken House, 2 Palmer Street, Frome, Somerset BA11 1DS.
The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data available
First edition, June 2020
Jacket design by Elizabeth B. Parisi
Jacket illustration © 2020 by Dion MBD
e-ISBN 978-1-338-57107-3
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. No part of this publication may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without the express written permission of the publisher. For information regarding permission, write to Scholastic Inc., Attention: Permissions Department, 557 Broadway, New York, NY 10012.
