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Description edit
Kate, Michael, and Emma have been in one orphanage after another for the last ten years, passed along like lost baggage. Yet these unwanted children are more remarkable than they could possibly imagine. Ripped from their parents as babies, they are being protected from a horrible evil of... read more
Ridiculously Simplified Synopsis edit
Summary edit
Kate, Michael, and Emma have passed from one orphanage to another in the ten years since their parents disappeared to protect them, but now they learn that they have special powers, a prophesied quest to find a magical book, and a fearsome enemy.
Characters/People edit
- Kate: 14 year old girl; blond hair and large hazel eyes; sister to Michael and Emma; the only one that remembers her parents;
- Michael: 12 year old boy; bookish; scrawny; wears glasses; brother to Kate and Emma; loves books about magic, especially dwarves
- Emma: 11 year old girl; short chestnut hair; likes to get into fights; sister to Michael and Emma;
- Felsen: fail fail nada at ada
- Dr. Pym: A kindly wizard with the key to the past...and future
- Kopf: Add a description of this character.
- Kreischer
- Boden
- Wasser
- Blick
- Frau
- Bruder
- Hauptmann Robbie
- Dann
- Schiff
- Macht
- The Countess: evil witch that is searching for the magical Books of Beginning; looks like she is about sixteen/seventeen years old; unnaturally beautiful; Shirley Temple meets The White Witch.
- Stein
- Dorf
- Wald
- Schulter
- Katherine
- Dr. Stanislaus Pym: a wizard
- Gabriel: a mysterious man who helps Emma Kate and Michael; Emma has a special connection with him; is very good at fighting off Screechers and salmac-tar
- Damm
- Zimmer
- Messer
- Kate Und Emma
- Kamin
- Berg
- Herz
- Tisch
- Hamish: Dwarf King
- Bart
- Robbie Mclaur: Commander in the dwarf kingdom; Hamish's brother;
- Erde
- Feuer
- Grund
- Hoffnung
- Lage
- Traum
- Clare: Kate, Michael and Emma's mother
- Richard: Kate, Micheal and Emma's Father
- Granny Peet: a wise woman from Gabriel's village;
- Abraham: a caretaker at the Crystal Falls Orphanage; use to take lots of photographs;
- Kate: The oldest child of three and the main character
- Stephen Mcclattery: a boy from Crystal Falls who stands up to the Countess
- Miss Crumley: orphanage director at Edgar Allan Poe Home for Hopeless and Incorrigible Orphans; really dislikes Emma, Kate, and Michael;
- Wallace: A dwarf.
- Mrs. Lovestock: a woman who would like to adopt children, possibly Kate, Emma, and Michael; loves swans so much that everything including house decor and bushes are formed to the theme of swans.
- G. G. Greenleaf: a dwarf; writer of the Dwarf's Omnibus
- Annie: She is a minor character that is dangled before the reader many times.
- the Dire Magnus
Setting & Locations edit
First Sentence edit
The girl was shaken awake.
Table of Contents edit
Prologue... 1
Chapter One: Mrs. Lovestock's Hat... 9
Chapter Two: Miss Crumley's Revenge... 23
Chapter Three: The King and Queens of France... 36
Chapter Four: The Countess of Cambridge Falls... 47
Chapter Five: Dr. Stanislaus Pym... 66
Chapter Six: The Black Page... 79
Chapter Seven: Guests of the Countess... 94
Chapter Eight: Wolves... 114
Chapter Nine: Gabriel... 143
Chapter Ten: The Maze... 165
Chapter Eleven: The Prisoner in Cell... 175
Chapter Twelve: Breakfast for Dinner... 196
Chapter Thirteen: Hamish... 220
Chapter Fourteen: Granny Peet... 236
Chapter Fifteen: To the Dead City... 246
Chapter Sixteen: The Black Lake... 258
Chapter Seventeen: Inside the Vault... 270
Chapter Eighteen: The Raven... 279
Chapter Nineteen: The Battle of the Dead City... 284
Chapter Twenty: Kate's Vision... 313
Chapter Twenty-One: Devil's Bargain... 333
Chapter Twenty-Two: The Dire Magnus... 356
Chapter Twenty-Three: The Children of Cambridge Falls... 376
Chapter Twenty-Four: Rhakotis... 394
Chapter Twenty-Five: Ghosts of Christmas Past... 407
Series & Lists edit
This is book 1 of 2 in The Books of Beginning. (standard series)
Followed by The Fire Chronicle.
This is book 8 of 10 in Amazon.com Best Books of April (2011). (authoritative list)
Preceded by Great Soul, and followed by Where She Went.
Authors & Contributors edit
- John Stephens (Author)
First Edition edit
Original Language: English
Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers
Country: United States
Publication Date: April 5, 2011
ISBN: 0375868704
Page Count: 432
Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers
Country: United States
Publication Date: April 5, 2011
ISBN: 0375868704
Page Count: 432
Awards edit
- Southern California Independent Booksellers Association Award (Finalist, 2011: Children's novel)
- Texas Lone Star Reading List (2012)
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