Fergus Crane


Paul Stewart - 2004
    C., your long-lost Uncle Theo"Fergus Crane has an almost ordinary life having lessons taught by rather odd teachers on the school ship "Betty Jeanne "and helping his mother in the bakery. But then a mysterious flying box appears at the window of his waterfront home and Fergus is plunged headlong into an exciting adventure! The box is followed by a winged mechanical horse that whisks him off to meet his long-lost uncle and his penguin helpers, Finn, Bill, and Jackson. Fergus finds out that his teachers are not quite what they seem they re actually pirates! Can Fergus and his winged horse save his schoolmates on the far-off Fire Island? And who else will he find there?

The Magic Thief


Sarah Prineas - 2008
    Conn should have dropped dead the day he picked Nevery's pocket and touched the wizard's locus magicalicus, a stone used to focus magic and work spells. But for some reason he did not. Nevery finds that interesting, and he takes Conn as his apprentice on the provision that the boy find a locus stone of his own. But Conn has little time to search for his stone between wizard lessons and helping Nevery discover who or what is stealing the city of Wellmet's magic.

Behind the Attic Wall


Sylvia Cassedy - 1982
    and waitingAt twelve, Maggie had been thrown out of more boarding schools than she cared to remember. "Impossible to handle," they said—nasty, mean, disobedient, rebellious, thieving—anything they could say to explain why she must be removed from the school.Maggie was thin and pale, with shabby clothes and stringy hair, when she arrived at her new home. "It was a mistake to bring her here," said Maggie's great-aunts, whose huge stone house looked like another boarding school—or a prison. But they took her in anyway. After all, aside from Uncle Morris, they were Maggie's only living relatives.But from behind the closet door in the great and gloomy house, Maggie hears the faint whisperings, the beckoning voices. And in the forbidding house of her ancestors, Maggie finds magic ... the kind that lets her, for the first time, love and be loved.

The Familiars


Adam Jay Epstein - 2010
    Moments later Jack, a young wizard in training, comes in to choose a magical animal to be his familiar. Jack thinks his birthday pet is magical, and Aldwyn plays along.He just has to convince the other familiars -- know-it-all blue jay Skylar and unsure tree frog Gilbert that he's as powerful as he claims. Then the unthinkable happens. Jack and two other young wizards are captured by the evil queen of Vastia. The familiars face dangerous foes, unearth a shocking centuries-old secret, and discover a destiny that will change Vastia forever.

Midnight for Charlie Bone


Jenny Nimmo - 2002
    Charlie Bone has a special gift- he can hear people in photographs talking!The fabulous powers of the Red King were passed down through his descendants, after turning up quite unexpectedly, in someone who had no idea where they came from. This is what happened to Charlie Bone, and to some of the children he met behind the grim, gray walls of Bloor's Academy.His scheming aunts decide to send him to Bloor Academy, a school for geniuses where he uses his gifts to discover the truth despite all the dangers that lie ahead.

Little Witch


Anna Elizabeth Bennett - 1953
    ...It may sound like fun to be the daughter of Madam Snickasnee and be forbidden to go to school, to wash behind your ears, or go to bed at night. You might even like to see certain people you know turned into potted plants and have your own flying broomstick. ...But Minx didn't like riding around in the dark or cooking up horrid pots of Black Spell Brew. Even a witch's child rebels, and one day, Minx sneaked off to school. ...The principal was certainly surprised to see his newest pupil arriving on a broomstick, and life got much more exciting for a lot of people - the school-children, Mr. Beanpot the detective and Mrs. Sputter of the Parent-Teachers' Association. ...Anyone who ever longed to cast a spell or experiment with a magic kettle will delight in the wonderful story of Minx and how her dearest wish came true. Helen Stone's gay line drawings make the little witch and her friends come alive with humor and Hallowe'en spirit.

The Wish


Gail Carson Levine - 2000
    So when an old lady on the subway offers her a wish, Wilma immediately asks for popularity -- in fact, she asks to be the most popular kid at school.Suddenly, Wilma has more friends than she can keep track of, forty dates to the Grad Night Dance, and a secret admirer writing her love poems. Everything is great, until she realizes there's a loophole in her wish, and her time in the spotlight has almost run out.

The Seer and the Sword


Victoria Hanley - 2000
    But there is a curse on anyone who lifts the sword for conquest. King Kareed of Archeld goes after this sword anyway, winning it from the King of Bellandra. When he returns home from battle, he brings his daughter, Princess Torina, two special gifts. One is a unique crystal, in which she can view visions of the future. The other gift is the defeated king’s son Landen, who is to be her slave. Torina immediately releases Landen, who becomes a member of the King’s army and her close friend.But trouble is lurking in the kingdom of Archeld and people are accusing Landen of plotting against the King. Torina refuses to believe he would hurt her family. Then Torina begins seeing deadly visions in her crystal. Can she save her father’s life and the future of her kingdom?

The Ruby Key


Holly Lisle - 2008
    Bestselling fantasy writer Holly Lisle brings us her children's debut with a lyrical, fast paced fantasy for middle-grade readers!Mankind is SunkindAnd rules by the light;Nightlings are Moonkind,And rule in the night;Or there will be war.Human and Nightlings are never to meet, but when Genna and her brother Dan venture into the old forest at night, they encounter a Nightling slave who reveals a terrifying secret: Genna and Dan's village chieftain has made a dangerous deal with Letrin, ruler of the Nightlings, offering the lives of his people in exchange for his own immortality.

The Moorchild


Eloise Jarvis McGraw - 1996
    So the Folk banish her and send her to live among humans as a changeling. Named Saaski by the couple for whose real baby she was swapped, she grows up taunted and feared by the villagers for being different, and is comfortable only on the moor, playing strange music on her bagpipes.  As Saaski grows up, memories from her forgotten past with the Folks slowly emerge. But so do emotions from her human side, and she begins to realize the terrible wrong the Folk have done to the humans she calls Da and Mumma. She is determined to restore their child to them, even if it means a dangerous return to the world that has already rejected her once.

The Dollhouse Murders


Betty Ren Wright - 1983
    While visiting her Aunt Clare at the old family home, she discovers an eerily-haunted dollhouse in the attic—an exact replica of the family home. Whenever she sees it, the dolls, representing her relatives, have moved. Her aunt won't listen to Amy's claims that the dolls are trying to tell her something. This leads Amy to research old news reports where she discovers a family secret—the murder of her grandparents. The two sisters unravel the mystery. Amy grows to accept her sister and to understand that Louann is more capable than she had first thought.

The Little Broomstick


Mary Stewart - 1971
    When she discovers a little broomstick shortly afterwards, she is astonished to feel it jump in to action. Before she can gather her wits, it is whisking her over the treetops, above the clouds, and in to the grounds of Endor College, where: 'All Examinations Coached for by A Competent Staff of Fully-Qualified Witches.' Here she discovers evidence of a terrible experiment in transformation - deformed and mutant animals imprisoned in cages. In the moment after her broomstick takes off, she realises that Tib has been captured. Returning to the College the following day, she manages to free the animals, but not before the Head of the college, Miss Mumblechook, and her colleague, Doctor Dee, have seen her. Mary manages to flee... but the evil pair are in hot pursuit!

The Game


Diana Wynne Jones - 2007
    Since then, she has been raised and homeschooled by her grandparents. Grandad is overworked and travels a lot; Grandma is much too strict and never lets her meet any children her own age. When Hayley does something wrong—she is not quite sure what—they pack her off to her aunts in Ireland. To Hayley’s shock, her family is much bigger than she thought; to her delight, the children all play what they call “the game,” where they visit a place called “the mythosphere.” And while she plays the game, Hayley learns more about her own place in the world than she had ever expected. This original novella by Diana Wynne Jones is sharply funny, fast-paced, and surprising until its very end—like all of this acclaimed author’s work.

Shadow Castle


Marian Cockrell - 1945
    One day, a girl named Lucy follows a little dog through a tunnel into the valley and meets the mysterious red-haired Michael, who takes her into the shadow world to meet Prince Mika and his mortal wife Gloria, their children and their children's children, and learn the magic that will lift the spell. This new expanded Author's Edition contains additional chapters never published before!

The Search for Delicious


Natalie Babbitt - 1969
    Gaylan soon discovers that the entire kingdom is on the brink of civil war, and must enlist help to define "delicious" and save the country.