Hayat, a 12-year-old strong-willed girl, lives in a poor fishing village governed by dark tradition, in which every family must give away a daughter to the sea creatures who inhabit the waters near by. In turn, the sea creatures are hunted by the men of the village. Saved from this ordeal by her father, Hayat is outcasted by her village and considered a curse. But Hayat never surrenders. When Hayat’s mother gives birth to her new-born brother, Hayat must accept the brutal custom by sacrificing herself to these creatures or find a way to escape.
"Recalling Niki Caros Whale Rider in its melding of tribal mythologies and patriarchal defiance, Shahad Ameens Scales is an altogether darker fantasy work marked distinctive by its potent social relevance and chilling imagination..."
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