When Aldwyn, a young alley cat on the run, ducks into a mysterious pet shop, he doesn’t expect his life to change. But that’s exactly what happens when Jack, a young wizard, picks Aldwyn to be his magical familiar. Finally off the tough streets, Aldwyn thinks he’s got it made. He just has to convince the other familiars—the know-it-all blue jay Skylar and the friendly tree frog Gilbert—that he’s the telekinetic cat he claims to be. But when Jack and two other wizards in training are captured by a terrible evil, it will take all of Aldwyn’s street smarts, a few good friends, and a nose for adventure to save the day!
Prepare for the unfamiliar When every bit of human magic disappears suddenly from Vastia, it falls on the familiars—Aldwyn the telekinetic cat, Skylar the know-it-all blue jay, and Gilbert the gullible tree frog—to find the Crown of the Snow Leopard, an ancient relic that can reverse the curse. They learn that the only way to do this is by following in the paw prints of Aldwyn’s missing father, who went searching for the Crown several years earlier. This magical spirit trail extends into the Beyond, where our heroes encounter new enemies and danger, while Aldwyn learns about his mysterious past. Full of high-flying adventure and heartwarming friendships, Secrets of the Crown will make readers want to get even more familiar with The Familiars!
Stori is in love with a boy who doesn't love her back. Her mother is sick and her father has gone missing. She tries to keep it all together by pursuing the mystery behind her father's disappearance---- in hopes that his return will set her life right. But the deeper she digs into her father's past, the closer she comes to life-threatening danger and, worst of all, heartbreaking disappointment. But nothing will stop her. Family is first. And she will die before she lets anything bad happen to her family. Emboldened by devotion she keeps searching and finds herself face to face with a mysterious woman who has the clues she has been looking for all along. Not only does Stori learn of her father's whereabouts she comes to discover a powerful book that was written by a philosopher of ancient times. And a secret brotherhood that is hiding this book in order to overtake her city and destroy all its families. With her newly gained knowledge and friend, Stori uncovers more secrets about herself, her father and her city. And about this holy, ancient text that has the power to change the very world and save many lives. Will she have the courage and the grace to accept the truth, will she have enough love in her heart to accept her destiny and see her quest to the end?
A Daily Mail Book of the Year and a The Times and Sunday Times Best Book of 2021 'Monumental.. Authoritative and highly readable.' Ben Macintyre, The Times 'A fascinating history of royal espionage.' Sunday Times 'Excellent... Compelling' Guardian For the first time, Spying and the Crown uncovers the remarkable relationship between the Royal Family and the intelligence community, from the reign of Queen Victoria to the death of Princess Diana. In an enthralling narrative, Richard J. Aldrich and Rory Cormac show how the British secret services grew out of persistent attempts to assassinate Victoria and then operated on a private and informal basis, drawing on close personal relationships between senior spies, the aristocracy, and the monarchy. This reached its zenith after the murder of the Romanovs and the Russian revolution when, fearing a similar revolt in Britain, King George V considered using private networks to provide intelligence on the loyalty of the armed forces - and of the broader population. In 1936, the dramatic abdication of Edward VIII formed a turning point in this relationship. What originally started as family feuding over a romantic liaison with the American divorcee Wallis Simpson, escalated into a national security crisis. Fearing the couple's Nazi sympathies as well as domestic instability, British spies turned their attention to the King. During the Second World War, his successor, King George VI gradually restored trust between the secret world and House of Windsor. Thereafter, Queen Elizabeth II regularly enacted her constitutional right to advise and warn, raising her eyebrow knowingly at prime ministers and spymasters alike. Based on original research and new evidence, Spying and the Crown presents the British monarchy in an entirely new light and reveals how far their majesties still call the shots in a hidden world. Previously published as The Secret Royals.
Cultural Writing. Art. Essays. MAGICAL SECRETS ABOUT THINKING CREATIVELY: THE ART OF ETCHING AND THE TRUTH OF LIFE by Kathan Brown is a new volume in the Magical Secrets series published by Crown Point Press in San Francisco. What are Magical Secrets? They are ways of setting yourself up for thinking creatively, for a sudden understanding, something like a miracle. Kathan Brown learned the Magical Secrets in this book by helping artists of extraordinary acclaim make etchings. She founded Crown Point Press, now probably the world's most influential etching publisher, in 1962. In this book, you'll meet sixteen artists who will be remembered by future generations. Kathan Brown knows them well, and with pictures and graceful, inviting prose she shares with you their ways of working, thinking, and being.
King Ludwig II ruled Bavaria for twenty-two years, commissioning extravagant castles throughout his homeland and exhibiting such bizarre behavior that he was eventually declared insane. According to legend, Ludwig had stockpiled a massive cache of gold and jewels that would finance the construction of the largest castle of all time. But in the years since the king’s mysterious death, no one has found any evidence of such a trove. Until now. Jonathon Payne and David Jones are pulled into the mystery by a colleague, who asks them to investigate the legend. They agree, and quickly find themselves in a life-or-death struggle to uncover the truth about Ludwig’s death, his mythical treasure, and who would be willing to kill for it.
Aldwyn, a street-smart alley cat, pretended he had telekinetic powers so young wizard Jack would chose him as a familiar. Aldwyn then learned that he and two other familiars—Skylar the blue jay and Gilbert the tree frog—were destined to undertake a perilous quest to defeat Paksahara, an evil hare who’d been familiar to the queen. In Circle of Heroes, the third book of The Familiars series for middle-grade readers, Paksahara and her undead animal army control the Shifting Fortress. Aldwyn and his friends have to recapture it to return magic to the queendom of Vastia. Fans of The Guardians of Ga’hoole series and Erin Hunter’s Warriors books will love the mix of humor, magic, and animal adventure story in Circle of Heroes by Adam Jay Epstein and Andrew Jacobson.
Based on documents newly released from KGB archives, this lively account of Soviet foreign intelligence activity in Great Britain during the Cold War provides much new information on the activities of the well-known British pro-Soviet spies as well as many lesser-known spymasters and recruiters. Illustrations.
