Below you will find the descriptions on two new Algonquin Young Reader novels, along with a paperback release of the first in a series. All three have excerpts available, which is always great!
The FIB books are for younger children, I would say 11 and under, while Brightwood is geared more toward the tween crowd. All three books are mystical and fantasy based.
I read Brightwood myself - while being a tween book it's written in a manner that an adult can easily settle into the story and enjoy it also.
As always, Algonquin Young Reader novels are books that you would be proud to add to your children's collection... and many will want to pass through your hands also before settling on the bookshelf!
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Brightwood
September 27, 2016
Click HERE for an excerpt.
In this spine-tingling tale where the line between
imagination and madness is sometimes hard to find, a girl fights to save
her home and her life from a mysterious stranger.Daisy Fitzjohn knows there are two worlds: the outside world and the world of Brightwood Hall, her home—and the only place she’s ever been. Daisy and her mother have never needed a life beyond Brightwood Hall, with its labyrinth of rooms, many animals, and stores of supplies. Daisy has no computer or phone, but she has all the friends she could want, including a mischievous talking rat named Tar and a ghostly presence of a long-ago explorer who calls herself Frank.
When Daisy’s mother leaves one morning without saying goodbye, a strange visitor, James Gritting, arrives on the estate claiming to be a distant cousin. But as the days tick by and Daisy’s mother doesn’t return, Gritting becomes more and more menacing. He wants to claim Brightwood for himself, and Daisy soon realizes he will do anything to get it. With no one to help her but her imaginary friends, Daisy must use her wits and her courage to survive.
Tania Unsworth takes readers on a twisting, heart-pounding journey through dark corridors and wild, untamed gardens in this novel perfect for fans of Doll Bones and Coraline.
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The Unbelievable FIB: Over the UnderworldSeptember 9, 2016
Click HERE to read excerpt.
Friends ABE and Pru embark on a fresh adventure among the gods and lands of Norse mythology as they race to prevent Ragnarok — the war that ends the world.
It’s been a year since friends ABE and Pru joined Mister Fox’s Fantasy Investigation Bureau–otherwise known as the Unbelievable FIB–to save their hometown from an invasion of Viking gods and giants. Life has been incredibly ordinary ever since. But that’s all about to change when the Norse Allfather, Odin, appears with terrible news: Baldur, his favorite son, has been murdered. It’s the first step in a fated chain of events that leads to Ragnarok–the end of the world. The gods are convinced that Loki is the killer, but ABE, Pru, and Mister Fox aren’t so sure. Loki has done some bad things–kidnapping ABE the year before, for one–but there isn’t any proof that he killed Baldur. And if the gods are wrong about Loki . . . could they be wrong about Ragnarok too?
Fans of Thor, Rick Riordan’s Magnus Chase, and classic Norse myths will cheer as ABE and Pru outrun trolls, explore Asgard and the Viking underworld, and try to outsmart the Queen of the Dead herself to change fate, save the world–and survive seventh grade.
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Now in Paperback
Click HERE to read an excerpt.
The debut title in a new series featuring unseen realms, Norse mythology, and a pair of most unlikely heroes.
“What is the Unbelievable FIB?”
That’s the question eleven-year-old Prudence Potts discovers on a baffling card no one else in Middleton–except ABE, a new kid with a knack for solving riddles–seems to see. Then a mysterious man asks for ABE and Pru’s help investigating mythical beings infiltrating the town, and that’s just one of the things Pru finds hard to believe.
Soon Pru and ABE discover another world beneath the surface of their quiet town, where Viking gods lurk just out of sight. They must race to secure the Eye of Odin, source of all knowledge–and the key to stopping a war that could destroy both human and immortal realms.
Author Adam Shaughnessy draws from classic lore to create a new world where uncertainty opens the door to magic and the last thing you should do is believe your own eyes. Fans of Rick Riordan and Diana Wynne Jones will delight in the charming characters, abundant puzzles and plot twists, and sly humor of this first novel in a new series.
