Jan Bozarth

Jan Bozarth created the Fairy Godmother Academy, a children’s fantasy sequence about girls discovering individual gifts in the dream realm of Aventurine. Zally’s Book is the third volume, published by Yearling in 2010 with illustrations by Andrea Burden. Thirteen-year-old Zally Guevara receives a magical cacao seed talisman from her grandmother and enters Aventurine, where a fairy-godmother-in-training must awaken her own abilities. The family object, Latin American heritage, and enchanted landscape give this installment a distinct identity within the shared series. Birdie’s Book and Kerka’s Book precede it, while Lilu’s Book, Sumi’s Book, and Trinity’s Book continue the academy. Bozarth has described an international Texas upbringing with a Cuban mother and Welsh father, a background that informs the sequence’s attention to varied family traditions. Zally’s Book balances a continuing magical world with one young character’s inheritance, making personal history part of how she learns to help others.