It's the 13th century. Kublai Khan has conquered China, spreading the Mongolian empire from Ukraine to Korea. His epoch-making attempt to invade Japan is about to get underway—the one that will end with Kublai's army at the bottom of the Yellow Sea, thanks to a storm that will go down in Japanese memory as "Kamikaze" (divine wind).
In Book Two of the "Century Quartet", four kids with Leap Day birthdays come together again to solve another puzzle, this time in New York City. Elettra from Rome, Mistral from Paris, Sheng from Shanghai, and Harvey from Manhattan face an evil nightclub owner, five dangerous women, a one-eyed crow flying surveillance for a shadowy group of Native Americans, and a trail of clues seemingly left behind by a man who lived over 100 y…
I was so overwhelmed by the strangeness and originality of this book's fantasy conceits that, in spite of several clues, I got halfway through it before I realized that it is a retelling of the Arthurian legend. Color me embarrassed!
Young Tom comes from a line of storybook heroes. And by that I mean the actual heroes of such stories as "Jack the Giant Killer" and "The Frog Prince." Whether a clever tailor or a charming prince, the hero in each of your favorite fairy tales was most likely a member of the Trueheart clan, acting on instructions from the staff at the Story Bureau, and with a little help from sprites who carry messages and throw in a little magi…
Roo Fanshaw is a runty thief, good at hiding with her hoard of trinkets in tight spaces where big people can't come after her. Before we have time to find out what made her this way, we see her taken from the scene of her drug-dealer father's murder (which she witnessed) and passed along to a series of foster families, where she is even less loved and cared for than before.
Iphigenia ‘Gene’ Laurus is the heiress of a noble family, bound by corsets and her Mother’s rich ideals. Micah Grey is a runaway, taking refuge in R.H. Ragona’s Circus of Magic, the greatest circus in Ellada. With a head for heights, the beckoning call of the aerialists is too tempting to resist, and a new life is forged in the heart of the tumbling circus life where anything seems possible. But not all is as it first appears, a…
The Hardscrabble children are (let's face it) strange. Elder brother Otto never takes off the scarf he has worn since their mother disappeared, and speaks only in a private sign language understood only by his siblings. Youngest child Max is a walking encyclopedia with a head for heights. And in the middle is Lucia, the narrator (though she pretends to be anonymous), scared and vulnerable and mouthy and fiercely protective of he…
In Book 5 of the "Codex Alera" series, young Tavi of Calderon, recently outed as Gaius Octavian—the grandson of Alera's ruling First Lord Gaius Sextus, and thereby Princeps of the realm—faces a crisis in which the antagonistic races that populate his world must either come together or perish separately. At the same time, the question of who will succeed Gaius Sextus reaches a crucial climax that will only be resolved in Book 6, …
Part two of Maureen Johnson’s "Shades of London" series. The series follows the troubles of Aurora ‘Rory’ Devereaux as she finds herself transplanted from Louisiana into the middle of London boarding school life. There the dangerous exploits of a ghostly killer rattles the neighbourhood and Rory finds herself caught up with a secret crime fighting squad. After the jaw dropping conclusion of "The Name of the Star", the story open…
This Victorian fantasy adventure from author Jack Croxall brings excitement into a quiet Northern town with murder and mystery. Despite the promise of a steady career apprenticing to be a teacher, 13 year old Karl Scheffer has wanderlust, itching to explore beyond the quiet limits of his home town, rural Shraye. Together with his good friend Esther Emerson, Karl has his keen eyes on sighting out adventures to be had. With his on…