The Astonishing Chronicles of Oscar from Elsewhere

Description

Let me get this straight. I'm on a trip with the following people: 1) Bronte, a girl who makes magical 'Spellbinding' rings, 2) Alejandro, a former pirate/current prince who can shoot arrows and make fire from stones, 3) Imogen, who can read broken maps and is a kickboxing master, 4) Esther, who saved her entire world from some kind of ancient monster, 5) Astrid, a smart ten year old who can read minds, and 6) Gruffudd, a surprisingly speedy (and always hungry) Elf. And who am I? Just a kid who skips school to ride a skateboard. The Astonishing Chronicles of Oscar from Elsewhere is the account of Monday through Friday of last week. That's when Oscar found himself on a quest to locate nine separate pieces of a key, held by nine separate people, in order to unlock a gluggy silver spell that had trapped the Elven city of Dun-sorey-lo-vay-lo-hey. The quest was an urgent one. Friday at noon, the spell would become permanent, the Elves would be crushed to death and Oscar would be trapped in this magical world forever. (The account, it should be noted, has been written at the request of a small public school's Deputy Principal. She wants to know exactly what Oscar considered more important than coming to school last week.) From the award-winning Jaclyn Moriarty comes an enchanting tale of cryptic challenges, breathtaking danger and 360 kickflips.

Jaclyn Moriarty is the author of novels for children, young adults and adults, including the internationally bestselling Feeling Sorry for Celia and Finding Cassie Crazy, and the Colours of Madeleine trilogy. The first book in that trilogy, A Corner of White, won the NSW Premier's Literary Award for Young Adult Fiction, the Queensland Literary Award for Young Adult Fiction, and was short-listed for the Western Australian Premier's Awards. In the US, it was a Boston Globe-Horn Book Honor book, was short-listed for the Nebula (Andre Norton prize), and was a Kirkus Best Book of the Year. The second in the trilogy, The Cracks in the Kingdom, also won both the NSW and Queensland Literary Awards, was short-listed for the Victorian Premier's Awards, and won the Aurealis Award for Best Young Adult Fantasy. The Kingdoms and Empires books, a series of standalone books for 10 to 14-year-olds, include The Extremely Inconvenient Adventures of Bronte Mettlestone, The Slightly Alarming Tale of the Whispering Wars and The Stolen Prince of Cloudburst. All of the books in the series have won or been short-listed for a number of prizes. A former media and entertainment lawyer, Jaclyn grew up in Sydney, lived in the US, the UK and Canada, and now lives in Sydney again.

'A wonderful magical adventure to read over the holidays! The fourth book in the Kingdoms and Empires series, The Astonishing Chronicles of Oscar from Elsewhere is about a non-magical boy called Oscar who was just trying to find a good skate park when he came upon the Elven city of Dun-sorey-lo-vay-lo-hey. The book chronicles Oscar's magical but dangerous mission over the five days he skipped school. A delightful read with superb illustrations by Perth's own Kelly Canby.' The West Australian Praise for Kingdoms and Empires series 'Together they give a deeper immersion and lay the groundwork of something 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