Open Road Media Young Readers’ list of eclectic young adult novels has bolstered its ranks with the release of Kate Thompson’s fantasy books. Thompson is an acclaimed British-Irish author whose works have won numerous awards and captivated the hearts of British readers for years. Her novels are imaginative and heartfelt coming-of-age stories that unfold in vivid fantastical worlds inspired by Celtic mythology and an Irish milieu.
Michael feels completely alone in the world until he meets Annie, a girl who, like him, seems to want to escape something . . . a girl who has some dark secrets. Michael desperately wants to be with Annie. But she lives on the opposite side of the treacherous Annan Water river . . .
The year is 1720, and Jack, a London blacksmith’s apprentice, is fleeing from his master’s punishment. Now a runaway, Jack’s wanderings take him to the Thames River, where he plucks a curious little pot out of the water. Hoping that his find will prove valuable, Jack discovers that the pot belongs to a practitioner of the forbidden art of alchemy. The alchemist agrees to take Jack on as an apprentice and teach him his secret art. But what the alchemist offers will not lead to shelter or security—instead, it’s something far more wonderful and perilous.
Everyone in Rilka’s village knows about the beguilers: the golden-eyed, wailing creatures that come out after dark and lure people to their doom. Rilka astonishes her fellow villagers when she reveals that her “Great Intention”—her first act as an adult—is to capture a beguiler. During her dangerous quest to the cloud mountain, the rumored lair of the beguilers, Rilka discovers truths about the beguilers—and herself—that will change her life and her village forever.
Laurie is worried. Her father refuses to discuss the vision they have seen lurking by his science lab: glowing, dangerous-looking horsemen bearing bows and swords. Laurie is sure the horsemen are portents of doom. Are they somehow connected to her father’s mysterious genetic research? The recent bombings in Birmingham, England? The unrest in Shasakstan, a country ruled by a dictatorship and armed with nuclear weapons? And if these horsemen do pose a threat, is it too late for Laurie to stop them?
This epic trilogy is now available in one volume. Switchers,Midnight’s Choice, and Wild Blood follow the adventures of thirteen-year-old Tess, who is a Switcher—able to change into any animal at will. After meeting Kevin, a fellow Switcher, Tess learns how to stretch her power to its very limit. On her adventures, she battles deadly snowstorms sweeping down from the Arctic; dark forces that have gained a sinister hold over the rats of Dublin; and kidnappers lurking in the woods bordering her uncle’s farm. Along the way, she meets other Switchers—some help her, while others lead her into even greater danger. But when Tess turns fifteen, she will lose her ability to Switch, and be forced to remain in one shape forever. She is about to face the hardest decision of her life. What shape will she choose? Human or animal—or something else entirely?
Switchers by Kate Thompson [Excerpt] by OpenRoadMedia