Central Kansas Library System

Determined to focus on work rather than books, as his father had, twelve-year-old Patrick Waters leaves Belfast as a steward on the Titanic, but the very wealthy Harry Widener arranges to tutor him, drawing Patrick into association with thieves seeking Harry's very rare edition of Francis Bacon's Essays.

"Stax Stonecutter has lived a peaceful--if unremarkable--life in his small town in the Overworld. He prefers leisure to work, choosing to tend to his gardens and play with his cats all day rather than expand his family's mining business. But when a mysterious stranger arrives, he takes everything from Stax, stranding him in the middle of nowhere and with nothing to his name. Now, Stax must learn not only how to survive, but how to live"--

Thanks to a crew of misfit treasure-seekers, Wily Snare has assumed his rightful place as King of Panthasos. Wily knows how to be a great trapsmith -- devising and building various contraptions to keep plunderers at bay -- but he has no idea how to be a good king. And he hasn't escaped his past. Stalag, the mage who once kept him locked away, is amassing an army of stone soldiers to seize the kingdom. Wily's only hope is to tame a lair beast, a giant...

"Some stories are about happy, adorable penguins who form families, learn to dance, or make friends. This is not one of those stories. All orphan Bolt Wattle has ever wanted was to find his true family. When a mysterious baron in far-off Brugaria sends for Bolt, he wonders if he's getting closer to finding his long-lost parents. But Baron Chordata appears to be a twelve-year-old boy who wears tuxedos all the time, shouts at everyone, and forbids Bolt...