If you are looking for a bookish travel destination, look no further than the first few chapters of the new book Kelcie Murphy and the Academy for the Unbreakable Arts by Erika Lewis. The opening scenes of the book take place in the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, a lovely place to visit no matter the season.
Before we take a closer look at the museum and the city it is located in (and the city that Kelcie Murphy grew up in), let’s take a closer look at the book that inspired this post.
Kelcie Murphy and the Academy for the Unbreakable Arts
by Erika Lewis
Published by Starscape Books
Releasing on March 1, 2022
Middle Grade – Fiction – Fantasy
Brimming with Celtic mythology, action, and danger, Erika Lewis’s Kelcie Murphy and The Academy for the Unbreakable Arts introduces readers to a new kind of magical school and a warrior who must choose with which side of an epic battle her destiny will lie.
The Otherworld is at war. The Academy for the Unbreakable Arts trains warriors. And Kelcie Murphy—a foster child raised in the human world—is dying to attend.
A place at AUA means meeting Scáthach, the legendary trainer of Celtic heroes. It means learning to fight with a sword. It means harnessing her hidden powers and—most importantly—finding out who her parents are, and why they abandoned her in Boston Harbor eight years ago.
When Kelcie tests into the school, she learns that she’s a Saiga, one of the most ancient beings in the Otherworld. Secretive, shunned, and possessed of imposing elemental powers, the Saiga are also kin to the Otherworld’s most infamous traitor.
But Kelcie is a survivor, and she’ll do whatever it takes to find her parents and her place in their world. Even if that means making a few enemies.
Erika Lewis grew up in Alexandria, Virginia, where she spent most of her childhood riding her dirt bike through Fort Ward, the Union Army Civil War stomping grounds. She graduated from Vanderbilt University and went on to earn a master’s degree from Georgia State University and an advanced certificate in creative writing from Stony Brook University. The author of Game of Shadows, The Color of Dragons, Firebrand and more, The Academy for the Unbreakable Arts is her middle grade debut.
Bookish Travel Destination: The Boston Museum of Fine Arts
Whenever I read about a named location in a book, I like to look it up and see if it actually exists. This is exactly what happened when I started reading Kelcie Murphy and the Academy for the Unbreakable Arts. The story opens while Kelcie is on a field trip to the museum. While she is there, crazy things start to happen.
There were no seismic quakes, horrendous storms, nothing suspicious at all to warn Kelcie Murphy that she was about to unleash the greatest evil the world has ever known. Only a field trip to the Boston Museum of Fine Arts.
Opening lines of Kelcie Murphy and the Academy for the Unbreakable Arts by Erika Lewis
If a book is going to have opening lines like those, I am not only going to be hooked, but I am going to need to look up the location to see if it is real so I can imagine what is going on as accurately as possible. Crazy I know, but hey! It’s what I do.
I found out that there is in fact a Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the 20th-largest art museum in the world, measured by public gallery area. It contains 8,161 paintings and more than 450,000 works of art, making it one of the most comprehensive collections in the Americas.
There’s a lot to see in the museum and the exhibits change on a regular basis so you can never get bored!
Can’t make it to Boston to visit the museum in person? That’s OK! You can take a look at their online exihibits without leaving your home.
Here’s a video that gives you a tour of the museum.
If you are ever in the Boston area, be sure to check out this amazing museum. And don’t forget to read Kelcie Murphy and the Academy for the Unbreakable Arts, now available wherever books are sold!
Has a book ever inspired your travel plans? Let me know in the comments below!
February 28
Turn the Page Tours – Welcome Post
Book Butterfly in Dreamland – Book Review
Purupleshadowhunter – Blogger’s Choice
March 1
Infinite Pages – Book Review
Andthatswhatsheread – Spotlight
Dreaminginpages – Top 3 Reasons to Read Kelcie Murphy and the Academy of the Unbreakable Arts
March 2
& She Reads – Spotlight
and_shereads – Blogger’s Choice
The.book.nerd.fox – Spotlight
March 3
Celia’s Reads – Book Review
Celiamcmahonreads – Blogger’s Choice
Themagicalreader – Spotlight
March 4
Nonbinary Knight Reads – Book Review, Favorite Quotes
Nonbinaryknight_reads – Blogger’s Choice
Hannah_writes.and.reads – Instagram Reel
March 5
A Court of Coffee and Books – Top 3 Reasons to Read Kelcie Murphy and the Academy of the Unbreakable Arts
Acourtofcoffeeandbooksblog – Blogger’s Choice
Zombiepandabooks – Book Review
Mybookworld96 – TikTok Spotlight
March 6
Books, Tea, Healthy Me – Top 3 Reasons to Read Kelcie Murphy and the Academy of the Unbreakable Arts
Gotgratitude5 – Blogger’s Choice
Acciob00kworms – Book Review
Books, Tea, Healthy Me 