About the Book:
In the first installment of this trilogy, Aine (pronounced "Aw-nee") believes herself to be a regular teenager in 1930s Alabama, but when a blue-eyed monster named Biblos attacks, she discovers that the reclusive woman raising her isn't really her grandmother, that fairies are real, and that she's been living inside the most famous book of all time for the past five years. With her blind brother, Spenser, she flees the pages of the novel she's called home, one terrifying step ahead of Biblos' black magic. Her only chance at survival lies in beating him to the three objects that he desires more than life.
As they undertake their strange and dangerous odyssey in a race against time, Aine is forced to choose between a family she doesn’t remember and her growing attraction to a mysterious young man named Gilgamesh. Only by entering stories will they learn the truth of their heritage and restore the balance of the worlds...if they can stay alive.
With dangerous adventures into Wells’ THE TIME MACHINE, Stevenson’s DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE, Dickens’ A TALE OF TWO CITIES, and the Indian saga THE RAMAYANA, this series aims to do for classic literature what the PERCY JACKSON series did for Greek mythology. In the words of Anthony and Agatha Award winning author Chris Grabenstein, “Lourey's wonderful way with words will whisk readers away to an amazing new world!”
About the Author:
Jess Lourey is the author of The Toadhouse Trilogy: Book One, the first in a young adult series that celebrates the danger and excitement of reading. She also writes the critically-acclaimed Murder-by-Month Mysteries for adults with a sense of humor.
She's been teaching writing and sociology at the college level since 1998. When not gardening, writing, or hanging out with her wonderful kids and dorky dog, you can find her reading, watching SyFy-channel original movies, and dreaming big. Visit her mystery website at www.jesslourey.com and her young adult website at www.jesslourey.com/toadhouse/index.html.
Read an excerpt
My Opinion:
This is a YA novel with a most intriguing premise; two children Aine and Spencer are living a normal childhood when it is all destroyed in a day. Everything they thought they knew about themselves turns out to be fiction and it turns out that they are living in a book. Yes, a storybook. They are being chased by a very evil character named Bilbos who is out to destroy them. A fairy by the name of Gilgamesh has been sent to protect them and help them find three "keys" so that they can open up their home kingdom and be reunited with their mother. To do this they travel through books - classics - in a vehicle called a Toadhouse.
Just go with it. This was a really magical book. The mythology was like nothing else I have ever read and I really couldn't put the book down. It's not a book to be taken seriously, it's a book to get lost in and just enjoy the ride. Ms. Lourey knows how to keep the suspense building and her characters are strong, brave and true. It's not all unicorns and lollipops either; lessons are learned, sometimes in very difficult ways.
The book is a stepping stone to get young readers interested in some of the great classics that have perhaps lost some luster; I adored the Odyssey but I only started reading Dickens as an adult. There is a reason these old stories are classics and reminding us of them is a good thing.
I will look forward to the next two chapters in the adventures of Aine an Spencer as Gilgamesh guides them towards their ultimate goal of home.
You can purchase The Toadhouse Trilogy: Book One on Amazon.com
Disclosure: I was sent a copy of The Toadhouse Trilogy by the author, gratis. Any opinions expressed are my honest opinions and were not impacted by my receipt of the free book. I received no monetary compensation for this post.
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