Amazon Best of the Year AudioFile Earphones Award Winner A unique blend of humor, suspense, and magic, unfolding through the instantly recognizable rivalries, affections and foibles of her characters, from Jaclyn Moriarty During a sleepover, a letter comes to five children begging for the urgent assistance of Esther Mettlestone-Staranise, the newly-realized Rain Weaver; she must arrive before 10am on Monday to save an entire town of elves. When they arrive, the children find two incredibly odd things: first, the town of elves, buried under layers of silver; and second, a regular-size boy who, soon after seeing the children, dies. Oscar is that boy who skipped school in our world on Monday to skate, and found himself in the city of the elves at just the wrong moment: He fled as fast as he could, but not fast enough because the silver wave struck him and he fell down dead. And that’s just the beginning! At breakneck pace the cousins and friends (and a six year old stowaway elf named Gruffudd, who’s a troublemaker) try to stop the clock and rewind the tragedy. Can they do it? The pleasure is all in the adventure, as only Jaclyn Moriarty can tell it.PRAISE FOR THE KINGDOMS AND EMPIRES BOOKS★ “A delightfully quirky story with nuance, depth, and a colorful cast of characters, this book begs for multiple readings.”—School Library Journal (starred) ★ “Like a middle-grade version of Terry Pratchett’s Discworld—fantasy adventure steeped in humor, with a touch of satire, and set in a whimsical secondary world of the highest order.”—Booklist (starred) “Beautifully presented.”—Sydney Morning Herald “Splendidly entertaining.”—Kirkus “The tale crescendos to an uplifting close that promotes honesty, bravery, and self-confidence.”—Publishers Weekly
