New YA Novel Celebrates the Underdog

By Rachel M. Anderson, Contributing Writer

(Los Angeles, CA) – What if one day you were walking in the woods and came across an animal in trouble. What would you do? Most people wouldn’t think twice about coming to the rescue; but what if that animal was under attack by a terrifying menace at the time?

When the new young adult novel, A Marvel of Magick: Madden and the Dark Unicorns of Danuk, by E.T. Page begins, young Madden Edwards is about to go from dreaming about becoming a hero to turning into one after a creature that shouldn’t even exist—a unicorn— has come under attack.

In return for saving its life, the magical creature grants Madden a wish. The boy doesn’t know what to wish for at first, but then the next day after coming under attack by a group of school bullies, transforms into not just any unicorn, but the one destined to save the world.

Like the story’s protagonist, author E.T. Page has been obsessed with unicorns since childhood. “If I had to pick one entity creature, it would definitely be the unicorn. I have artwork and books and all kinds of stuff,” says Page, who fondly recalls bedtime stories about unicorns told by their mother.

“Her tales were about a little boy who in the evening went for a wonderful ride with a unicorn, then came home and went to sleep. I only remember fragments really, but those fragments served as the inspiration for what I am intending to be a series,” says Page, who adds that in the next adventure Madden will have some time to just be a young person and explore some of the normal world; but then there will be more help that the world needs and Madden will again be called upon to help save the planet.

“It will be up to Madden to try and prevent a tragedy on a global scale,” says Page, who like the lead character is part of the LGBTQ community. Page recalls not having very many characters in books they could relate to while growing up, and hopes through Madden’s adventures to solve that problem for other kids.

“I think this is a story I would have loved when I was a kid and it just didn’t exist. So I followed the advice of Toni Morrison who said, "If there's a book you want to read, but it hasn't been written yet, then you must write it."

“Madden is his own person, but there is certainly some of me in there. Madden has experiences I would have liked to have. Magic may seem elusive, of course, but we can still hope for it,” says Page, who in addition to writing the story drew the original accompanying illustrations.

“I eventually decided to hire a professional illustrator for the final book though, as I wanted the illustrations to really come alive for readers,” Page adds.

A Marvel of Magick: Madden and the Dark Unicorns of Danuk by E.T. Page is available to read on Amazon's Kindle now. A paperback version of the book will be available for purchase on May 1, 2021. For more information on the book go to AMarvelOfMagick.com.

Author E.T. Page

E.T. Page is an independent artist who lives in Los Angeles. They moved to the West Coast after graduating from Valencia College in Orlando, Fla., and deciding to pursue a career in music and film.

Page just finished work on the documentary, “Streetlight Harmonies,” which is about the Doo-wop music phenomenon of the 1940s and 50s. The documentary is now streaming on Amazon. They scored the film, produced the soundtrack and also sang on one of the original songs available from Lakeshore Records.

In addition to their work in music and film, Page also recently finished work on a novel. A Marvel of Magick: Madden and the Dark Unicorns of Danuk is Book One in what is intended to be a series of stories about a boy in the LGBTQ community who occasionally finds himself tasked with saving the world. The book is now available on Amazon. The paperback comes out May 1, 2021.

Paperback ISBN # 978-1-7363-3871-1 / eBbook ISBN # 978-1-7363-3872-8.