ADVENTURE NOVELS

1.CRISPIN

A peasant boy in medieval England endures his mother’s death. To make matters worse, after witnessing a clandestine meeting between the abusive village steward and a prominent stranger, he is discovered and accused of a crime he didn’t commit. The steward declares him a “wolf’s head”, to be killed on contact by anyone who sees him. As Crispin flees for his life, he meets an immense, irascible juggler named Bear. In this epic tale of survival, Crispin and Bear must weave through the forests like fugitives, evading capture and certain death.

2.MRS FRISBY AND THE RATS OF NIMH

The classic story of a widowed mouse, Mrs. Frisby is desperate to keep her children safe from Mr. Fitzgibbons’ plow. Their yearly trek from the garden to their summer haven is complicated when her youngest son, Timothy, falls ill with pneumonia. With the help of a sophisticated group of rats called NIMH, Mrs. Frisby will experience the most perilous journey of her life…all for the love of her family.

3.THE WISHING SPELL

Precocious twins Alex and Conner Bailey are coping with the death of their father, but life turns magical when their globe-trotting grandma gives them a book, The Land of Stories. This peculiar book illuminates and “swallows up” any object placed on its pages. With an unquenchable curiosity and the yearning for a new chapter in their life, Alex and Conner sink into this enchanting book’s pages and discover a land unlike any other!

4.THE INVENTION OF HUGO CARBET

Hugo Cabret, a clock keeper at a Paris train station, has one obsession: to retrieve a treasured notebook given to him by his deceased father. In it lies the key to unlocking a secret message housed in a broken automaton, a humanlike mechanical device. Could this automaton reveal a final message from a loving father to his son? This enchanting, one of a kind book utilizes the elements of picture book and film. A visual masterpiece to behold.

5.THE SECRET OF PLATFORM 13

Beneath Platform 13 in a London train station, a corridor leads to an island where humans, mermaids, hags, and other mystifying creatures live harmoniously together. This happy community falls into despair when the evil wife of bank tycoon, Mrs. Trottle, kidnaps the island’s baby prince to raise him as her own. With the help of an unlikely rescue team: an old wizard, a gargantuan ogre, the queen’s favorite fey, and a young hag, how will the operation fare in modern day London?

6.THE NEVER ENDING STORY

Bastian, a portly 11-year old boy, narrowly escapes the pursuit of school bullies. He finds refuge in an old bookstore owned by a Mr. Coreander, a cranky old man who could care less for children, much less sell a book to one. Drawn to a strange book Mr. Coreander is reading, Bastian secretly snatches it and hides in his school’s attic. There, he sets up a safe haven to explore the mysterious book. In it he discovers the enchanting but troubled world of Fantastica and becomes a key player in its salvation.

7.MATHILDA

Matilda is a little girl who is far too good to be true. At age five-and-a-half she's knocking off double-digit multiplication problems and blitz-reading Dickens. Even more remarkably, her classmates love her even though she's a super-nerd and the teacher's pet. But everything is not perfect in Matilda's world. For starters she has two of the most idiotic, self-centered parents who ever lived. Then there's the large, busty nightmare of a school principal, Miss ("The") Trunchbull, a former hammer-throwing champion who flings children at will and is approximately as sympathetic as a bulldozer. Fortunately for Matilda, she has the inner resources to deal with such annoyances: astonishing intelligence, saintly patience, and an innate predilection for revenge. She warms up with some practical jokes aimed at her hapless parents, but the true test comes when she rallies in defense of her teacher, the sweet Miss Honey, against the diabolical Trunchbull. There is never any doubt that Matilda will carry the day. Even so, this wonderful story is far from predictable.

8.THE BFG

Captured by a giant! The BFG is no ordinary bone-crunching giant. He is far too nice and jumbly. It's lucky for Sophie that he is. Had she been carried off in the middle of the night by the Bloodbottler, the Fleshlumpeater, the Bonecruncher, or any of the other giants-rather than the BFG-she would have soon become breakfast. When Sophie hears that they are flush-bunking off in England to swollomp a few nice little chiddlers, she decides she must stop them once and for all. And the BFG is going to help her!