fiction Archives - Page 354 of 719

The Girl and the Witch’s Garden
by Erin Bowman (Author)

Booktalk: Mallory Estate is the last place twelve-year-old Piper Peavey wants to spend her summer vacation. The grounds are always cold, the garden out back is dead, a mysterious group of children call the property home, and there’s a rumor that Melena M. Mallory–the owner of the estate and Piper’s wealthy grandmother–is a witch.

But when Piper’s father falls ill, Mallory Estate is exactly where she finds herself.

The grand house and its garden hold many secrets–some of which may even save her father–and Piper will need to believe in herself, her new friends, and magic if she wants to unlock them before it’s too late.

Snippet: There was no denying that a witch lived at Mallory Estate.

Grown-ups were fooled by the property’s manicured front drive and the mansion’s historic facade. Regal, they called it. Charming. But the problem with grown-ups is that they see what they want. They don’t really look. Not properly, at least.

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When Pumpkins Fly
by Margaret Lawrence (Author / Illustrator) and Amanda Sandland (Illustrator)

Booktalk: The air is cold, the nights are long, and Halloween is just around the corner. This is the time of year when pumpkins fly! In the remote, fly-in community of Sanikiluaq, Nunavut, the last cargo flight of October brings some strange orange guests for the children. Seeing a pumpkin for the first time, the local kids eagerly carve and light their first jack-o-lantern. But when everyone adjourns to the community hall for the Halloween dance, the pumpkin is left alone outside. The land around Sanikiluaq is home to many spirits who love to cause mischief, especially this time of year. But what would a land spirit do with a pumpkin?

Snippet: I look at our big, orange guest. What kind of thing is a pumpkin? What are we going to do with it?