An inventive and original middle grade debut! The City juts out of the water like a shard of glass, mostly submerged beneath the waves. As the last city on earth, superstition and zealotry reign. When Ellie (an orphaned inventor) pulls a boy out of a beached whale, he is immediately suspected of being the new Vessel for the Enemy, an ancient immortal who's bent on leaving chaos and destruction in its wake. Ellie will stop at nothing to save him, but it could cost her everything.
There is so much warmth, hope, and humanity between the covers of this book. Make yourself a cup of tea and settle in.
Not only one of the funnest series I've read in a while, but also some of the best world building and deeply thought out characters. I was just in a "fun adventures with my bros" mood when I picked these up, I had no idea how smart and caring the writing would turn out to be.
Insanely funny, full of heart, incredible creatures, bitchin' swords, sick ass magic, and he even mentions periods.
This book was a blast, like being part of a D&D campaign if it were co-DM'd by the author Lish McBride and Ben Affleck's character from the movie "Extract".
It's just good.
Adventure is the last thing Barclay wants, and he's sure he won't find any apprenticed to a mushroom farmer. An accidental trip to the woods flings him into a hidden world of magic, Beasts, Beast collectors, and all the adventure he thought he didn't want.
Barclay's world is quirky and weird, and I'm so jealous I can't wander into the woods, bond with a Beast, and gain magical powers, too! Perfect for fans of Pokemon and How To Train Your Dragon!
Mesmerizing. Strange. Glorious.
I have to thank fellow bookseller Nicole for introducing me to this stunning book. The technical skill left me astonished. I wanted a bench, as though in a museum, to sit and quietly take in each page of black-and-white pen-and-ink line drawings. Van den Ende's debut is a wordless story of a small paper boat's epic journey across a vast and fathomless ocean. It teems with myriad flora and fauna that reside somewhere between fairy tale and reality. It intrigues. It beguiles. An elegant testament to solitude, strength, and bravery.
Delightful! If you need a STARLESS SEA read-alike, you'll find this historical novel as bookish and magical but more approachable.
Intimate narrative and a story within a story device work together elegantly to unfurl the tale of January Scaller and her missing father, their wealthy benefactor, and a mysterious door in Mississippi that opens into another world. TEN THOUSAND DOORS OF JANUARY has all the elements of a precocious, coming of age story within a low fantasy world. There's adventure, secret societies with nefarious plans, a big best friend pooch called Bad, and places drawn from the wildest reaches of imagination.
I started reading this series when I was 8, I am now 34 and I still re-read it and get new things out of it. Does your kid looove the Warriors series? Their mind will be blown by the world of Redwall. Imagine, if you will, an egalitarian community of woodland creatures who fight tyranny, go on epic quests, and throw the best parties with the most scrumptious and elaborate meals you've ever read about.
Every creature, big or small, shy or outgoing, regardless of gender, is valued and has an important role to play. Sometimes it's a formerly enslaved squirrel, or maybe a mute badger grandmother, or perhaps a young ottermaid who has perfect aim with a slingstone...
