Ballad & Dagger

Almost sixteen years ago, Mateo Matisse's island homeland disappeared into the sea. Weary and hopeless, the survivors of San Madrigal's sinking escaped to New York. While the rest of his tight-knit Brooklyn diaspora community dreams of someday finding a way back home, Mateo—now a high school junior and piano prodigy living with his two aunts—is focused on getting the attention of locally grown musical legend Gerval. Mateo finally gets his chance on the night of the Grand Fete, an annual party celebrating the blended culture that created San Madrigal. But the evil that sank their island has caught up with them, and Mateo's life is forever changed when he witnesses a brutal murder by a person he thought he knew. Suddenly thrust into an ancient battle that spans years and oceans, Mateo unravels deadly secrets and awakens a power that links him to the killer and may unlock the mystery…