Silverborn: The Mystery of Morrigan Crow

Jessia Townsend is an Australian-based writer with experience as a copywriter and editor for a wildlife magazine aimed at children. Her debut novel was the first in her middle-grade fantasy series, titled Nevermoor: The Trials of Morrigan Crow (2017). The book became a New York Times bestseller in the US and was a #1 Kids’ Indie Next pick. Townsend has shared in interviews that the idea for the world came to her when she was a student (Dumpleton, Elise. “Q&A: Jessica Townsend, Author of ‘Silverborn: The Mystery of Morrigan Crow.’” The Nerd Daily, 10 May 2025). The series is a projected nine books, of which Silverborn is the fourth installment.

The series uses a popular fantasy premise for middle grade and young adult readers, that of the magical organization or school that brings together a gifted if oddball assortment of characters and gives them a mission—usually saving their community or the world as they know it. The magical school became a popular premise following the publication of Ursula Le Guin’s The Wizard of Earthsea (1968) and was consolidated by the success of J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series, beginning with