The Tunnel of Dreams

Description

A hidden world, mysterious villains, two sets of twins and one epic competition set the scene for this magical middle-grade adventure by an award-winning NZ author. In an abandoned house at the end of their street, twin brothers Stefan and Arlo discover a young girl hiding in its dusty shadows. Alice needs their help-her twin sister is locked in a cage suspended high above a mysterious mine in a strange parallel world-and she asks an impossible favour. Will they meet her on the next full moon at the entrance to a tunnel Stefan and Arlo both know doesn't exist? Except that it does. And when they travel through it, Stefan and Arlo find themselves on a quest that will challenge all their ideas of who they are and what they can do. The Tunnel of Dreams is a delightful middle-grade fantasy adventure about friendship and loyalty, and about dreaming big and achieving the impossible.

Bernard Beckett is the author of eleven books, most of them for young adults. He has won numerous awards including the 2010 Prix Sorci res, the Esther Glen Award from the NZ Librarian's Association and the NZ Post Book Award for his novel Genesis. The Tunnel of Dreams is his first middle-grade novel. Bernard lives with his family in Wellington, New Zealand.

'Funny, raw, fantastic...The most exciting young adult writer writing in this country.' * Radio NZ * 'Escape into this absorbing magical adventure from a master storyteller.' * Kate Constable * 'A charmingly breezy middle fiction fantasy novel...[with] plenty of villainous twists...perfect for readers who aren't quite ready for Percy Jackson, and for when the later Harry Potter books are a little too scary.' * Books+Publishing * 'This is [Beckett's] first middle-grade novel and he's absolutely nailed it! Fast-paced and exciting action sequences have a cinematic quality. The setting in our "almost world" is both magical and grounded. It's a cracking read.' * Better Reading * 'The only drawback to The Tunnel of Dreams is that it ends ... This novel deserves a special place in the family home. It will become a dog-eared treasure, one a young person might carry with them as they grow, to slip into the pages when in need of childhood comforts.' * NZ Listener *