Just when Valor McRaven and his sister, Doomsy Gloomsy, are minutes from becoming apprentices of magic at Mystic Steeples, their parents snatch them away in an escape from the sanatorium with two nutty Nizzertits they have befriended. Valor and Doomsy find themselves fleeing Hoopenfangia all the way to the Bumbling Boonies where Valor’s father plans to live in a hole in the ground to escape the Grim Warlock’s Thirteenth Hour—if Houmas McRaven can get his family through the enchanted door of the Ambergis Divide, that is. But has Houmas led his family into the very pit of danger and death, he had imagined escaping? Will Valor’s friends show up after the war that ignites the Thirteenth Hour traps him and Doomsy in its sticky web? Come along as Valor and Doomsy encounter magical creatures, a tombstone amusement park, and a tower of Sorcerers while unraveling more clues to the mysteries surrounding the McRavens.The Tombstone Forest, the second book in the CANDLEWICKE 13 series, contains hidden clues throughout the novel. It also contains chapter illustrations as well as a variety of maps.

There's an ELEPHANT in the bathtub! And a CAMEL in the study--and a LION on the couch--and a GORILLA in the kitchen! When wild animals make themselves at home, what's a dad to do?

Twelve year old Sophia and her younger brother Mark find a mysterious book at the local library and take it home. At first, it seems like just an ancient collection of stories, but soon, the children will discover that it is a portal to another world, Almation – and before they know it, they are trapped in it. To get back home, Sophia and Mark will have to solve many puzzles, face unexpected dangers and make equally unexpected friends – but maybe even that is not enough…Full of adventures, challenges and fantastic creatures, the world of Almation will take Sophia and Mark on an exciting journey, and teach them the power of stories.

Who hasn't dreamed of going to the moon? That dream for eleven-year-old Leo Gray is about to come true but he's in for the surprise of his life!

In the year 2113, most people live in robotically maintained homes, ride around in self-flying cars, and wear ozone-resistant clothes. Most people that is; just not Leo Gray's parents. They're stuck in the past, and science know-it-all Leo is completely fed up with his beyond-embarrassing living arrangement with them. But when he enters a rocket-building competition for a chance to attend the Lunar Academy, Leo's luck finally seems to turn in his favor!

However, it's not long after stepping foot into his dorm room that Leo discovers the moon's celebrated city is harboring a world of dark secrets. It's soon a race against the clock for Leo and his friends Andromeda Groves (a code-hacking whiz from Canada), Pavo Digbi (a history buff from Brazil), and Grus Pinwheel (a musically gifted and comically endearing Aussie) to intercept and foil plans to destroy the city leaving the group's leader faced with a decision that no eleven-year-old should ever have to make: save Earth or save himself and the city he fought so hard to reach.

Leo Gray and the Lunar Eclipse is an epic adventure set in a wonderfully imaginative, futuristic world overflowing with robots, anti-gravity sports, superhero-esque suspense, and page after page of laughter and heart that will leave boys and girls equally gripped under its spell!

WINNER OF READERS FAVORITE SCI-FI FANTASY CHILDREN'S BOOK AWARD 2019With Timothy Mean’s amazing imagination and time machine, anything and anywhere is possible! Join Timothy on a magical rhyming adventure as he skips through time and pranks with pirates, gets daring with dragons, and even teases a T-Rex!“It’s Monday. Hip hip hooray! Where shall we travel in time today?" With Timothy Mean, every day is a rhyme in time!

Twelve-year-old Alyssa McCarthy is sick of her uncle's unfair rules and longs for a better life. After discovering the existence of magic, she finds out about a dark wizard hunting her down. An unforgettable storm occurs in Alyssa's ordinary New Jersey town before the sorcerer kidnaps her to the Fiji Islands.
On the enchanted island of Yanowic, Alyssa learns that she is unable to get out of the country due to a giant shield. She must defeat some dangerous creatures and the evil wizard in order to leave. But with sorcerers and magical technology getting in her way, can Alyssa succeed?

An award-winning teen fantasy-mystery
Described by readers as "complex", "intriguing", "imaginative", "gripping”, "Harry Potter-like".

THOUSANDS OF CHILDREN disappear from our world. No one sees the kidnapping; or if they do, they forget. But one toddler returns after a week, riding a wolf with a falcon circling over him. That boy is Will Cleary.

Will tries to live a normal life. But his twin sister is still missing, and their parents never stop searching for her. Then just before his thirteenth birthday, Will's pets reveal a secret to him. (Though how it happens will remain a secret, until you read the book.)

A HIDDEN WORLD lies beneath our feet, a land filled with see-through trees and lucent people. They call us Sounds, and they are our Echoes; for each one of them is a reflection of one of us. It is a sparkling, beautiful place, a winter wonderland. But there is evil there, a terrible law, the Law of Death.

When a Sound dies in our world, his Echo is executed in Echoland. And there are those who reverse the order of things, to achieve their wicked ends. They hunt the Sound of the Echo they want to kill. Then the first death leads to the second as surely as lightning leads to thunder.

Is that what happened to the missing children in Will's realm? Did someone want to murder their Echoes? Or are these Sounds still alive, trapped somewhere in Echoland?

Will tries to escape the frightening answer. But dangers sweep him into that magical, see-through land. And there, in a fortress filled with castaway children, a two-hundred-year-old riddle lies buried. The most important boy in Echoland will help Will solve it, with a handful of other kids. For the fate of Echoland, and of the Sound realm, depends on the answer.

An answer hidden in an ancient book…
Deep in a frozen lake of gems…
Beyond a buried door…
At the foot of the greatest Crystillery of all.

But many men and monsters, crystal balls and spying eyes, will try to stop the brave teens. For how see-through your skin is is all-important in Echoland. And when this ancient hate will end, the realm of the Echoes will change forever.

~ WINNER of 7 BOOK AWARDS ~
"A young hero must ally with his alter ego in an intricate parallel universe in order to rescue his sister and save his own life. A gripping...fantasy coming-of-age novel." -Kirkus Reviews

IN A SEE-THROUGH LAND our reflections live. They call us Sound; they are our Echoes—and they think that they must die when we do. Is this why children are disappearing from the Sound realm? Because someone wants their Echo to die? Twelve-year-old Will Cleary tries to escape the frightening answer. But dangers sweep him into that magical, see-through land. And there, in a fortress filled with castaway children, a two-hundred-year-old riddle lies buried. The most important boy in Echoland will help Will solve it, with a handful of other teens. For the fate of Echoland, and of the Sound realm, depends on the answer. An answer hidden in an ancient book… Deep in a frozen lake of gems… Beyond a buried door… At the foot of the greatest Crystillery of all. But many men and monsters, crystal balls and spying eyes, will try to stop the brave teens.

~ 2018 Pacific Book Awards WINNER ~
~ 2018 Purple Dragonfly 2nd Place Winner ~
~ 2018 Los Angeles Book Festival Runner-up ~
~ 2018 Readers' Favorite Honorable Mention ~
~ 2018 New York Book Festival Honorable Mention ~
~ 2018 San Francisco Book Festival Honorable Mention ~
~2018 Royal Dragonfly Middle Grade Fiction Honorable Mention ~

Gold medal winner - 2018 eLit Awards Juvenile/Young Adult Fiction Second Place winning title in the 2016 Royal Dragonfly Book Awards- Middle Grade Fiction. Koolura is no ordinary girl. Neither is her best friend Leila. While visiting Mexico, the girls discover a device which hurtles them back in time to an early Mayan civilization. The Mayans have troubles of their own—the alien Aquari people have all but enslaved them. They need a goddess to set them free. Could Koolura be the one? 5 star review Reviewed by Arya Fomonyuy for Readers' Favorite Koolura and the Mayans by Michael Thal is the third book in the Koolura series, an exciting story that will take readers on a historic ride back into the old Maya civilization. Koolura and her friend, Leila, are just two young teens visiting Mexico. They stumble on a device that allows them to travel back in time. They are thrust into an early Maya civilization, whose people are enslaved by the Aquari. The people hope for a goddess who could set them free. Could Koolura be this goddess? Although Koolura and the Mayans is written for a pre-teen audience, it was fun to read as an adult. Michael Thal’s characters are awesome and I enjoyed Koolura and Leila, two girls who are smart and very ingenious. They make a great team. Readers will enjoy watching them evolve through the story. The author seems to create a whole new culture around the Maya and the story feels so real, reading about the people and the challenges they face. At the level of style, this book is beautifully accomplished. First off, the reader will notice the gorgeous accessible writing, composed of short and easy-to-understand sentences. The writing also features great descriptions of characters and setting. The descriptive prose creates powerful images in the minds of readers. I enjoyed the well-crafted dialogues which make the characters come to life. Readers will love the adventure, the drama, the conflict, and the entertaining nature of this story. I enjoyed it!

Winner 2018 CIPA EVVY Awards for YA Fiction
Winner 2018 Global eBook Awards for Historical Fiction-Medieval
RunnerUP 2018 Reader's Favorite Awards for Juv. Fantasy
Finalist 2018 Kindle Book Awards for Fantasy

Raised by mercenaries, Ayrion has one fatal flaw: A Conscience.

He also has Magic.

But if anyone were to find out it could mean his life.

Unlike most teens his age who spend their days learning a trade, Ayrion spends his learning how to fight, how to scale mountains, how to infiltrate a compound, grab a target, and disappear.

Desperate to become the youngest warrior of the Upakan clans, Ayrion will stop at nothing to reach his goal.

However, when a fatal accident strips him of his dreams and forces him to leave home, Ayrion barters passage aboard the only ship willing to take him south to Aramoor: The Windrunner.

But there's more to this captain and crew than he realizes, and once again he finds himself relying on every ounce of his training to stay alive.

If there's one thing Ayrion's learned it's that being the best isn't always a good thing.

Join Ayrion as he scales Howling Gorge, swims the icy waters of the Shemoa, battles highway bandits, outwits river pirates, and even drives the Cylmaran slavers back into their own domain.

- I've read almost 1000 books and this one is at the top - Amazon Reviewer
- It's like I have a mini-movie playing in my head - Amazon Reviewer
- A book that I can let my children read also. Please keep writing - Amazon Reviewer

Street Rats of Aramoor
Book 1 | Banished
Book 2 | Hurricane
Book 3 | Rockslide (Coming 2020)

In 1503, Leonardo da Vinci was commissioned to paint a young woman's portrait, but he never gave it to her. That woman was Lisa Gherardini, the real Mona Lisa. Now after five hundred years she has come back to get her portrait.  MONA LISA'S GHOST, is a  mystery, is the sequel to The Crystal Navigator. One of Lucy's classemates claims to be the reincarnation of Lisa and she is going to steal her painting. When the Mona Lisa vanishes, Lucy and her genius friend Sam solve a mystery that would stun the world if it were ever made public.