Fairy Myths

Hey, did you hear the one about the man who dropped a lit cigarette into the toilet with some gasoline-soaked rags? Of course you did, it happened to your gym teacher's cousin. Or was it your cousin's gym teacher?

My little brother Jonah and I have a magic mirror in our basement. This time, the mirror sucks us up and drops us into the story of Pinocchio. Our task? To help Gepetto get his wooden puppet son, Pinocchio, to go to school. But even though his nose grows when he lies, Pinocchio is tricky—and he ends up sneaking back into OUR world with us!

Noble Prince Jen is the one person that his father, King Ta'i, trusts enough to send on a mission to the legendary kingdom of Tien-Kuo. The prince eagerly begins his quest bearing only enormous pride and humble gifts. From the onset, however, the young ruler marches headlong into misfortune. Separated from his faithful servant, the prince finds himself fending off murderers, falling prey to trickery, and searching for a village girl who plays a magic flute. But it isn’t until he faces his most challenging personal trial that the he fully realizes the power hidden in each humble gift.

In this story, a farmer and his wife match wits with a large, mean-spirited ogre. If they can't outwit him, they will end up with no crops of their own to eat or sell. This whimsically drawn story, illustrated by A. B. Hoffmire, is based on an old Swedish folktale.

What does it mean to earn the silver oakleaf? So few men have done so. For Will, a mere boy, that symbol of honor has long felt out of reach. Now, in the wake of Araluen's uneasy truce with the raiding Skandians comes word that the Skandian leader has been captured by a dangerous desert tribe. The Rangers are sent to free him. But the desert is like nothing these warriors have seen before. Strangers in a strange land, they are brutalized by sandstorms, beaten by the unrelenting heat, tricked by one tribe that plays by its own rules, and surprisingly befriended by another.

Charlotte has always longed to be accepted by her older sisters. She would gladly exchange her vaunted beauty for their friendship. But they ask a far higher price. Pushed into marriage with a stranger, Charlotte is left betrayed and alone. All she knows of her new husband is that he has secrets—and that her heart beats a little faster whenever he calls her Lottie.

Will Treaty has come a long way from the small boy with dreams of knighthood. Life had other plans for him, and as an apprentice Ranger under Halt, he grew into a legend - the finest Ranger the kingdom has ever known. Yet Will is facing a tragic battle that has left him grim and alone. To add to his problems, the time has come to take on an apprentice of his own, and it's the last person he ever would have expected. Fighting his personal demons, Will has to win the trust and respect of his difficult new companion - a task that at times seems almost impossible.

Nicholas Flamel appeared in J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter - but did you know he really lived? And his secrets aren't safe! Discover the truth in book four of the New York Times best-selling series the Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel. The belief: Sophie and Josh are the twins of prophecy. The reality: Nicholas Flamel has been wrong before. Sophie and Josh Newman are finally home, but they're both more confused than ever about their futures. Neither of them has mastered the elemental magics they'll need to protect themselves from the Dark Elders.

After sixteen years, the secret is ready to be told. The true king of England is near! But first he must pull the sword from the stone.

Jo is a gifted archer with a burden on his back and a fire within. Eager to see the Longtreaders receive justice, he travels from his Halfwind Citadel home to a Cloud Mountain poised on the brink of war. What he finds there will confront his convictions and test his resolve as the war begins and King Jupiter's heir is revealed. A kingdom in the balance. An arrow aimed at the heart of darkness. Who will take the shot?

The Gift Is in the Making retells previously published Anishinaabeg stories, bringing to life Anishinaabeg values and teachings to a new generation. Listeners are immersed in a world where all genders are respected, the tiniest being has influence in the world, and unconditional love binds families and communities to each other and to their homeland. Sprinkled with gentle humour and the Anishinaabe language, this collection of stories speaks to children and adults alike and reminds us of the timelessness of stories that touch the heart.

Cinder, the cyborg mechanic, returns in the second thrilling installment of the best-selling Lunar Chronicles. She's trying to break out of prison - even though if she succeeds, she'll be the Commonwealth's most wanted fugitive. Halfway around the world, Scarlet Benoit's grandmother is missing. It turns out there are many things Scarlet doesn't know about her grandmother or the grave danger she has lived in her whole life.

Thirteen-year-old Sik wants a simple life going to school and helping at his parents' deli in the evenings. But all that is blown to smithereens when Nergal comes looking for him, thinking that Sik holds the secret to eternal life. Turns out Sik is immortal but doesn't know it, and that's about to get him and the entire city into deep, deep trouble.

When Horace travels to the exotic land of Nihon-Ja, it isn't long before he finds himself pulled into a battle that is not his - but one he knows in his heart he must wage. A kingdom teeters on the edge of chaos when the Nihon-Ja emperor, a defender of the common man, is forcibly overthrown, and only Horace, Will, and his Araluen companions can restore the emperor to the throne. Victory lies in the hands of an inexperienced group of fighters, and it's anybody's guess who will make the journey home to Araluen.

Jason Walker has often wished his life could be a bit less predictable--until a routine day at the zoo ends with Jason suddenly transporting from the hippo tank to a place unlike anything he's ever seen. In the past, the people of Lyrian welcomed visitors from the Beyond, but attitudes have changed since the wizard emperor Maldor rose to power. The brave resistors who opposed the emperor have been bought off or broken, leaving a realm where fear and suspicion prevail.

Once upon a time, there was a boy with a wicked tongue. Before he was a cruel prince or a wicked king, he was a faerie child with a heart of stone. Number one New York Times best-selling author Holly Black reveals a deeper look into the dramatic life of Elfhame's enigmatic high king, Cardan.

Do you know that the ancient Egyptians believed that people were made out of clay by their river god? For eons, the wisdom cultivated by the Egyptian people has been extolled time and time again. These timeless myths are fountains of insight and, many would argue, beacons of light that can shatter the darkness of ignorance. For those of you that are ready and willing to receive these ancient messages, your time has come. All you need to do is start listening. Then the wisdom of Thoth will begin to stir inside you.

Growing up on the magical island of Avalon should be great...but I have no magic to speak of. And my parents forbid me from leaving. So when I sneak out to Earth for a night and meet a hottie named Julian, of course I say yes to a date with him. But when Julian pulls me through a magical portal, I realize he isn’t human. He’s a half-blood faerie sent to bring me to his realm of the Otherworld. Because apparently, I’m a half-blood faerie, too. And I’ve been chosen to compete in the annual Faerie Games - a brutal, gladiator-like competition where half-bloods fight to the death.

Aileana is the king's pet. She has lived her entire life in a tower, waiting for the day she will be forced to marry his son. When that day arrives, she has a plan. Armed with her daggers and desire for freedom, she runs from the king and his deadly power. Xander has spent his entire life on the run. He doesn't need anyone or anything, certainly not a mate. But when his path crosses with a feisty elf, nothing will ever be the same again. He has secrets to keep. She wants to leave Ithenmyr behind and not look back. Fate has other plans for them both.

Cole Randolph was just trying to have a fun time with his friends on Halloween (and maybe get to know Jenna Hunt a little better). But when a spooky haunted house turns out to be a portal to something much creepier, Cole finds himself on an adventure on a whole different level.