Cover of the first book.
La bambina della Sesta Luna (The girl of the Sixth Moon) is a series of children's books by a Venetian writer Roberta Rizzo, written under the name of Moony Witcher. The novels revolve around Nina De Nobili, a ten-year-old girl who, with the help of her friends and alchemy, must protect the planet Xorax, the Sixth Moon of the third Sun of the Alchemy Galaxy, from Count Karkon Ca' d'Oro.There are currently seven books in the series:
- La bambina della Sesta Luna (The girl of the Sixth Moon)
- Nina e il mistero dell'Ottava Nota (Nina and the mystery of the Eight Note)
- Nina e la maledizione del Serpente Piumato (Nina and the curse of the Feathered Serpent)
- Nina e l'Occhio Segreto di Atlantide (Nina and the Secret Eye of Atlantis)
- Nina e il Numero Aureo (Nina and the Gold Number)
- Nina e il potere dell'Absinthium (Nina and the power of Absinthium)
- Nina e l'Arca della Luce (Nina and the Arc of Light)
Two companion books were also released:
- Il club di Nina. Per una vita da Sesta Luna (Nina's club. For a Sixth Moon life)
- L'alchimia di Nina (Nina's alchemy)
This series provides examples of:
- Alchemy Is Magic: Most of the magic in the series is alchemical in nature and involves using various properties of plants, liquids, gems, et cetera and making potions and other compounds.
- Bishōnen: Livio, natch.
- Betty and Veronica: Later in the series, Nina's love interests: frendly and reliable Chesco ("Betty") and dark and mysterious ghost Livio ("Veronica"). For added points, Chesco is Nina's close friend, while Livio is from side of enemies, directly sent to seduce Nina.
- Big Good: Eterea, the being that created both Xorax and the entire Magical Universe, and in the present day tasks Nina and her friends with saving Xorax from evil.
- Creepy Child: All of Karkon’s androids are bloodthirsty and sadistic by default, and those made in image of children are hardly any different.
- Creepy Twins: Alvise and Barbessa, a pair of android children serving under Karkon. Both of them, as per the norm for Karkon-made androids, are sadistic and violent towards animals and humans alike and at one point forcibly shave Dodo bald using rusty knives and razorblades, which lands him in the hospital for a period of time.
- Cute Kitten: Nina’s pet kitten Platone, whom she picked up from the streets of Madrid while she lived there.
- Feathered Serpent: Marquess Loredan aka LSL can transform into one by taking a special concoction. To reverse the transformation, he has to drink it once again...and if he doesn't do so in the span of a month, he'll die.
- If You're So Evil, Eat This Kitten!: In the first book, during the disguised Nina's visit to Karkon's orphanage under the pretense of wanting to become his student, Karkon orders her to choke a squirrel to death to prove that she is ruthless enough to join him.
- Nerds Are Sexy: Fiore is a typical know-all, with special interest in history and Latin (she really likes to show her knowledge of Latin phrases). At the same time, she's beautiful, romantic and sometimes demonstrates a sense of humor. Given that Fiore means "flower" in Italian, this seems to be a case of Meaningful Name.
- Platonic Coparenting: Due to Nina's parents being too busy with their work in Russia for most of her life, she was raised by her great-aunts, sisters Carmen and Andora.
- Redemption Equals Death: Fake (android) Andora in the second book. She gets better thanks to Max fixing her.
- Ridiculously Human Robots: The androids in this series typically lean a bit too close on the human side than it is practical. Even if the Xorax-made ones don't look exactly like humans and the Karkon-made ones are Ax-Crazy by default, most of them show humanlike feelings such sincere emotional attachment to others. On the physical side, they are shown to consume food, though Max uses it as fuel.
- Tarot Motifs: The Alchitarocchi, a set of 12 tarot-inspired living cards created by Marquess Loredan.
- Trademark Favorite Food: Max the android loves strawberry jam, to the point he uses it as a fuel.
