Sign-In
Cart
Elphie: A Wicked Childhood
Paperback
Publisher Price: $18.99
ISBN13: 9780063377028
Publisher: William Morrow & Company
Published: Mar 3 2026
Pages: 288
Weight: 0.47
Height: 0.73 Width: 5.33 Depth: 8.08
Language: English
New York Times Bestseller
What happened to young Elphaba before her witchy powers took hold in Wicked? Almost 30 years after the publication of the original novel, Gregory Maguire reveals the story of prickly young Elphie, the future Wicked Witch of the West--setting the stage for the blockbuster international phenomenon that is Wicked: The Musical and the Wicked smash hit movie series.
Elphaba, the Wicked Witch of the West, will grow to have a feisty and somewhat uncompromising character in adult life. But she is always a one-off, from her infancy; Elphie is the riveting coming-of-age story of a very peculiar and relatable young girl.
Young Elphie is shaped and molded by the behaviors of her promiscuous mother, Melena, and her pious father, Frex. She suffers ordinary childhood jealousies when her sister, saintly Nessarose, and brother, junior felon Shell, arrive. She first encounters the mistreatment of the Animal populations of Oz, which live adjacent to but not intertwined with human settlements, haunted by a Monkey and receiving aid from Dwarf Bears. She thrashes through her first bruising attempts at friendship, a possible lifeline from her tricky family life. And she gleans the benefits of an education, haphazard though it must be--until she arrives at the doors of Shiz University, about to meet the radiant creature that is Galinda.
Elphie is destined to be a witch; she bears the markings from childhood--most evidently in her green skin but more obscurely and profoundly in her cunning and perhaps amoral behaviors, as she seeks to make do, to slip by, to sneak out, to endure, and to aspire.
Also from
Maguire, Gregory
Wicked Collector's Edition: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West
Maguire, Gregory
Hardcover
The Wicked Series Box Set: Wicked / Son of a Witch / Out of Oz / A Lion Among Men
Maguire, Gregory
Paperback
Wicked [Movie Tie-In #2]: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West
Maguire, Gregory
Paperback
A Wonderful Welcome to Oz: The Marvelous Land of Oz, Ozma of Oz, & The Emerald City of Oz
Baum, L. Frank
Paperback
Also in
Fantasy
The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and Other Stories (Barnes & Noble Classics Series)
Stevenson, Robert Louis
Paperback
The Princess Bride Deluxe Limited Edition: S. Morgenstern's Classic Tale of True Love and High Adventure
Goldman, William
Paperback
Babel: Or the Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators' Revolution
Kuang, R. F.
Paperback
Japanese Gothic: A Folk Horror Novel of Japanese Mythology, Murder, and Family Duty Across Two Timelines
Baker, Kylie Lee
Hardcover
Assistant to the Villain: A Cozy Fantasy Romantic Comedy from a Tiktok Sensation
Maehrer, Hannah Nicole
Paperback
Before I Knew I Loved You: A Cozy Magical Realism Novel of Time Travel, Love, and Memory, Set in a Fabled Tokyo Café
Kawaguchi, Toshikazu
Hardcover