Malamander

Malamander
Author: Thomas Taylor
Publisher: Candlewick Press
Total Pages: 305
Release: 2019-09-10
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 1536210056

A quirky, creepy fantasy set in Eerie-on-Sea finds a colorful cast of characters in hot pursuit of a sea monster thought to convey a surprising gift. It’s winter in the town of Eerie-on-Sea, where the mist is thick and the salt spray is rattling the windows of the Grand Nautilus Hotel. Inside, young Herbert Lemon, Lost and Founder for the hotel, has an unexpected visitor. It seems that Violet Parma, a fearless girl around his age, lost her parents at the hotel when she was a baby, and she’s sure that the nervous Herbert is the only person who can help her find them. The trouble is, Violet is being pursued at that moment by a strange hook-handed man. And the town legend of the Malamander — a part-fish, part-human monster whose egg is said to make dreams come true — is rearing its scaly head. As various townspeople, some good-hearted, some nefarious, reveal themselves to be monster hunters on the sly, can Herbert and Violet elude them and discover what happened to Violet’s kin? This lighthearted, fantastical mystery, featuring black-and-white spot illustrations, kicks off a trilogy of fantasies set in the seaside town.

Festergrimm

Festergrimm
Author: Thomas Taylor
Publisher: Candlewick Press
Total Pages: 337
Release: 2023-04-25
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 1536231797

In the fourth tale in this beloved series, villainous Sebastian Eels returns to Eerie-on-Sea, thrusting Herbie and Violet into a new adventure involving a missing girl, a spooky wax museum, and a dangerous clockwork robot. Herbie Lemon, Lost-and-Founder at the Grand Nautilus Hotel, and his fearless friend Violet Parma have unearthed many secrets in their village of Eerie-on-Sea: secrets lurking beneath the waves, lapping onto the beaches, and lying behind locked doors. When their brilliant and ruthless nemesis, Sebastian Eels, returns with a plan to open the long-shuttered waxworks museum, Herbie and Violet suspect nefarious motives. Their investigation leads them into the dark Netherways below the town—and into the tragic past of the famous toymaker and inventor Ludovic Festergrimm and his doomed daughter, Pandora. Sebastian Eels is convinced that within the story of Festergrimm is the key to Eerie’s deepest secret—a secret in which Herbie himself plays a crucial part—and he’ll stop at nothing to uncover it, including bringing a terrifying clockwork legend back to life. With echoes of fairy tales and monster movies, plus a dismembered finger or two, this is a deliciously creepy addition to a fantastical mystery series that is perfectly calibrated to thrill middle-grade readers.

Shadowghast

Shadowghast
Author: Thomas Taylor
Publisher: Candlewick Press
Total Pages: 353
Release: 2021-09-14
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 1536218405

In the third mysterious tale of Eerie-on-Sea, it’s almost Ghastly Night, and the Shadowghast—an ancient spirit in a lantern—lurks in wait for the power to enslave the town. In this third adventure, shipwrecked orphan Herbert Lemon, Lost-and-Founder at the Grand Nautilus Hotel, must square off with a creature of town lore as he confronts a shadow from his past. While other towns celebrate Halloween, in Eerie-on-Sea it’s Ghastly Night, and a grim spirit in a lantern awaits its moment. Legend has it that if people fail to light manglewick candles on Ghastly Night, and if no showman conjures shadow puppets on the pier as an offering, the insulted Shadowghast will seize and devour the shadows of the living. This year, a professional theater troupe has been summoned, including a raven-haired magician named Caliastra with startling news of Herbie’s origins. No sooner have the players checked into the hotel than townspeople start vanishing into thin air, including the guardian of Herbie’s best friend, Violet Parma. It’s up to Herbie and Violet to separate truth from sleight of hand and solve the mystery of the Shadowghast lantern before darkness swallows them all.

Gargantis

Gargantis
Author: Thomas Taylor
Publisher: Candlewick Press
Total Pages: 318
Release: 2020-05-26
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 1536212083

In the second fantasy set in Eerie-on-Sea, Herbert and Violet team up to solve the mystery of Gargantis — an ancient creature of the deep with the power to create life-threatening storms. There's a storm brewing over Eerie-on-Sea, and the fisherfolk say a monster is the cause. Someone has woken the ancient Gargantis, who sleeps in the watery caves beneath this spooky seaside town where legends have a habit of coming to life. It seems the Gargantis is looking for something: a treasure stolen from her underwater lair. And it just might be in the Lost-and-Foundery at the Grand Nautilus Hotel, in the care of one Herbert Lemon, Lost-and-Founder. With the help of the daring Violet Parma, ever-reliable Herbie will do his best to figure out what the Gargantis wants and who stole her treasure in the first place. In a town full of suspicious, secretive characters, it could be anyone!

Scarlett Hart: Monster Hunter

Scarlett Hart: Monster Hunter
Author: Marcus Sedgwick
Publisher: First Second Books
Total Pages: 210
Release: 2018-04-03
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 1626720266

Scarlett Hart, orphaned daughter of two legendary monster hunters, is determined to carry on in her parents' footsteps--even if the Royal Academy for the Pursuit and Eradication of Zoological Eccentricities says she's too young to fight perilous horrors. But with the help of her loyal butler and a lot of monster-mashing gadgets, Scarlett's on the case. 1/2.

Haunters

Haunters
Author: Thomas Taylor
Publisher: Scholastic Inc.
Total Pages: 318
Release: 2013-05-28
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 0545502543

Does history have a ghost of a chance? Eddie, Adam, David. Each has the same strange power: the ability to time-travel. Through portals of dreams, they can appear as ghosts, wherever and whenever they want. The first boy, Eddie, is the genius who has sworn to protect the past and uphold the dreamwalker's code. The second, Adam, is a haunter, a dream-terrorist, dead-set on changing history for his own nefarious ends. The third, David, is the neophyte who must fight for the future by keeping the other two apart! Can he surf the time warps, back and forth between 1940s London and today, to save the present from oblivion?

The Monsters of Rookhaven

The Monsters of Rookhaven
Author: Pádraig Kenny
Publisher: Henry Holt and Company (BYR)
Total Pages: 281
Release: 2021-09-21
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 1250623952

“A stunning book...a brand new take on the monster story.” —Eoin Colfer, international bestselling author of the Artemis Fowl series From award-winning author Pádraig Kenny comes an action-packed middle grade fantasy about a family of monsters, perfect for fans of Jonathan Auxier and Victoria Schwab. Mirabelle is part of a very unusual family. Between Uncle Bertram transforming into a ferocious grizzly bear and Aunt Eliza’s body being made entirely of spiders, it’s safe to say they are an extraordinary lot. To the human residents of Rookhaven Village, the family is a threat. So long ago, a treaty was reached between them—in return for sundries and supplies, the monsters won’t eat the townspeople—and an invisible glamour was set around the perimeter of the Manor to keep strangers out. But the glamour serves a second purpose: to keep Mirabelle and her family hidden from those who would do them harm. When two orphans—siblings Jem and Tom—stumble upon a tear in the magical field and open a door that was meant to stay locked, Mirabelle and her family are put in grave danger. A very real monster has locked onto their scent, and he has a hunger for their kind. At turns chilling and thought-provoking, and stunningly illustrated by Edward Bettison, Pádraig Kenny’s The Monsters of Rookhaven explores difference and empathy through the eyes of characters you won’t soon forget.

Malamander

Malamander
Author: Thomas Taylor
Publisher: Walker Books US
Total Pages: 305
Release: 2019-09-10
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 1536207225

A quirky, creepy fantasy set in Eerie-on-Sea finds a colorful cast of characters in hot pursuit of a sea monster thought to convey a surprising gift. It’s winter in the town of Eerie-on-Sea, where the mist is thick and the salt spray is rattling the windows of the Grand Nautilus Hotel. Inside, young Herbert Lemon, Lost and Founder for the hotel, has an unexpected visitor. It seems that Violet Parma, a fearless girl around his age, lost her parents at the hotel when she was a baby, and she’s sure that the nervous Herbert is the only person who can help her find them. The trouble is, Violet is being pursued at that moment by a strange hook-handed man. And the town legend of the Malamander — a part-fish, part-human monster whose egg is said to make dreams come true — is rearing its scaly head. As various townspeople, some good-hearted, some nefarious, reveal themselves to be monster hunters on the sly, can Herbert and Violet elude them and discover what happened to Violet’s kin? This lighthearted, fantastical mystery, featuring black-and-white spot illustrations, kicks off a trilogy of fantasies set in the seaside town.

Otherland

Otherland
Author: Louie Stowell
Publisher: Nosy Crow
Total Pages: 171
Release: 2021-05-06
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 1788000471

Otherland is a dangerous magical underworld - a place where appearances can be deceiving and anything can happen. A world of gods, vampires, and fairies. It's also... horrible. When life-long friends Myra and Rohan discover that Rohan's baby sister Shilpa has been stolen and taken to Otherland, the only way to rescue her is by taking part in a deadly game - three impossible challenges set by the Fairy Queen of Otherland. Win the game, and Rohan and Myra can go home with Shilpa - but lose, and they'll be trapped in Otherland forever... A darkly funny, action-packed fantasy adventure, perfect for fans of Malamander, Stranger Things, Coraline and Pan's Labyrinth, from the author of the highly-acclaimed Dragon in the Library series.