Singer is a young-adult

Young adult literature

Young-adult fiction or young adult literature , also juvenile fiction, is fiction written for, published for, or marketed to adolescents and young adults, roughly ages 14 to 21. The Young Adult Library Services of the American Library Association defines a young adult as "someone between the...

 fantasy novel by Jean Thesman

Jean Thesman

Jean Thesman is a popular and award-winning novelist for young adults whose predominant theme is the heroine finding her place in the world by coming to understand her family...

, based loosely on the Irish legend of the Children of Lir

Children of Lir

The Children of Lir is an Irish legend. The original Irish title is Clann Lir or Leannaí Lir, but Lir is the genitive case of Lear. Lir is more often used as the name of the character in English...

, but having more in common with Thesman's earlier novel The Other Ones

The Other Ones (Jean Thesman novel)

The Other Ones is a young-adult fantasy novel by Jean Thesman.-Plot summary:Bridget Raynes has typical teenage problems—clumsiness, lack of popularity, an unrequited crush, oblivious parents—but they are compounded by her suppressed magical powers, or perhaps her loss of sanity...

, about a young girl coming to terms with her magical powers.

Plot summary

Gwenore for years has been punished and imprisoned by her evil witch mother Rhiamon, but she finally escapes with the aid of her slave-servant Brennan, her friend Tom, and a mysterious and seemingly apostate priest Caddaric. She first takes sanctuary at an abbey, then at an alternative home of gifted women. Along the way, she learns about her natural and her magical gifts in the arts and in healing, as the women become her teachers; from Father Caddaric she finally learns of the spellbound destiny he created for her to combat her wicked mother. She escapes to the kingdom of Lir

Lir

Ler or Lir is a sea god in Irish mythology. His name suggests that he is a personification of the sea, rather than a distinct deity. He is named Allód in early genealogies, and corresponds to the Llŷr of Welsh mythology...

, where she is made slave-governess of the four children who are to be transformed to swans before Gwenore's ultimate showdown with her mother.