The Astonishing Chronicles Of Oscar From Elsewhere

Oscar is just skipping school and hanging out at the local skatepark when he suddenly finds himself transported into a world very different to his. And this is his own account of his adventures from Monday to Friday last week. In the company of Bronte Mettlestone, Esther, Imogen and Alejandro, ordinary Oscar finds himself on a quest to locate nine separate pieces of a key, held by nine separate people, in order to unlock a complicated spell that had trapped the Elven city of Dun-sorey-lo-vay-lo-hey. If they don't succeed in their quest, on Friday at noon the spell becomes permanent, the Elves will be crushed to death and Oscar will be trapped in this magical world forever. (The account, it should be noted, has been written at the request of Oscar's school's Deputy Head Teacher. She wants to know exactly what Oscar considered more important than coming to school last week.)

A story of unexpected magic and friendship, told by two sets of children who are sworn enemies but who must come together to defeat a much more dangerous foe in the dangerous Whispering Wars

"Splendidly entertaining."—Kirkus Reviews ★ "A delightfully quirky story with nuance, depth, and a colorful cast of characters, this book begs for multiple readings." —School Library Journal (starred) ★ "Like a middle-grade version of Terry Pratchett's Discworld—fantasy adventure steeped in humor, with a touch of satire, and set in a whimsical secondary world of the highest order." —Booklist (starred) "The tale crescendos to an uplifting close that promotes honesty, bravery, and self-confidence." —Publishers Weekly Twelve-year-old Esther Mettlestone-Staranise loves reading books and writing stories but is troubled by low self-esteem and recurring bad dreams. When she starts the year at boarding school in earnest, she quickly notices something isn't quite right. Her two best friends are mysteriously missing. There are rumors her new teacher is secretly an actual ogre. And the scenic mountains of her quaint little town are teeming with Shadow Mages and danger. As secrets and dangers escalate, Esther must find the answers to several puzzles. Why is her teacher behaving so oddly? Which of Esther's classmates is the Spellbinder, and can they really protect the school from gathering hordes of Shadow Mages? Could the Stolen Prince of Cloudburst be connected? How can Esther – who is not talented like her sisters, nor an adventurer like her cousin, but just Esther – save her family, her school and possibly her entire world?

'Perfect for fans of Lemony Snicket' - a Book of the Year in the i News 'A whirligig of adventure' - The Telegraph _______________ Bronte Mettlestone is ten years old when her parents are killed by pirates. This does not bother her much: her parents ran away to have adventures when she was a baby. She has been raised by her Aunt Isabelle, with assistance from the Butler, and has spent a pleasant childhood of afternoon teas and riding lessons. Now, however, her parents have left detailed instructions for Bronte in their will. (Instructions that, annoyingly, have been reinforced with faery cross-stitch, which means that if she doesn't complete them, terrible things could happen) She must travel the kingdoms alone, delivering gifts to ten other aunts: a farmer aunt who owns an orange orchard, a veterinarian aunt who specializes in dragon care, a pair of aunts who captain a cruise ship, and a former rock star aunt who is now the reigning monarch of a small kingdom. But as she travels from aunt to aunt, Bronte suspects there might be more to this journey than the simple delivery of treasure; though little does she suspect that she will have to play such a big part in the extraordinary events that follow.

The thrilling follow-up to boarding school mystery The Girl with the Glass Bird. Best friends... for never?Anastasia Stolonov and Edie Wilson are back at boarding school after spending the summer apart, and they can't wait to be dormmates again! Unfortunately, things don't go as planned, and Edie is stuck with Janet, the new girl at Knight's Haddon. Janet isn't like anyone the other girls have ever met before. She's cool, confident, and a little rebellious, so Edie is thrilled that Janet seems to like her. And as Edie's friendship with Anastasia becomes rocky, Janet is the only one on Edie's side. But when mysterious things begin to happen, Edie starts to think that Janet may not be all she seems--and suddenly events take a dangerous turn. Will Edie be able to salvage her friendships and uncover what's going on before the clock runs out?

When Cassie runs away from her dreary boarding school, in search of her missing mother, she ends up in the magical village of Hedgely and discovers she comes from a family of witches - women who protect Britain from the denizens of Faerie, who are all too real and far more frightening than the story books suggest.

For fans of Small Spaces, Coraline, A Series of Unfortunate Events, and James Howe's Bunnicula classics comes the first book in the award-winning, New York Times bestselling Books of Elsewhere series. This house is keeping secrets . . . When eleven-year-old Olive and her parents move into the crumbling mansion on Linden Street and find it filled with mysterious paintings, Olive knows the place is creepy—but it isn’t until she encounters its three talking cats that she realizes there’s something darkly magical afoot. Then Olive finds a pair of antique spectacles in a dusty drawer and discovers the most peculiar thing yet: She can travel inside the house’s spooky paintings to a world that’s strangely quiet . . . and eerily sinister. But in entering Elsewhere, Olive has been ensnared in a mystery darker and more dangerous than she could have imagined, confronting a power that wants to be rid of her by any means necessary. With only the cats and an unusual boy she meets in Elsewhere on her side, it’s up to Olive to save the house from the shadows, before the lights go out for good.

Fifteen-year-old Yuki is struggling at school with her confidence, and goes to Japan to stay with her grandfather, a well-known manga artist and to whom she is very close. But during her visit, a calamitous event occurs - the East Coast Earthquak and Tsunami - and her beloved Grandpa is lost. Yuki and her friend Taka must make sense of the terrible situation and come to terms with the loss of their life as they knew it - and see that through renewal and with resilience, they can emerge from this tragedy with optimism for the future. Interwoven with Japanese folk tales, modern-day ghost stories, and the creation of her very own vibrant manga hero, Yuki finds the courage to overcome extraordinary odds, and take her first steps into the world that lies beyond catastrophe. Told through both prose and manga, this story for young adults will touch the heart of any reader.