Synopses & Reviews
Kristin Kladstrup's wonderfully transporting fantasy - featuring a ship full of orphaned pirate children, a pair of warring royals, and plenty of magic potions - is sure to thrill all those who dare turn its pages.Oscar Martin was fourteen when he mysteriously disappeared from his Iowa farmhouse home in June 1914. His sister claimed Oscar had rowed out to sea - but how was that possible? There is no ocean in Iowa. When, nearly a century later, Lucy Martin and her parents move from their city apartment to that same farmhouse in Iowa, it is not long before Lucy discovers the strange and dangerous BOOK OF STORY BEGININGS. And it's not long before Oscar reappears in a bizarre turn of events that sends the two distant relatives on a perilous journey to save Lucy's father.
This remarkable debut fantasy novel is a thrilling page turner as well as a tribute to the writer's craft.
About the Author
KRISTIN KLADSTRUP says, "I have always loved the big brick house in Iowa where my mother grew up. From its windows, you can look out and see beautiful fields and pastures. But when I was young, I was always ignoring what was in front of me and wishing for something more exciting. From those same windows, I could imagine the ocean stretching out to the Iowa horizon. If I'd had the chance, I might have written a story beginning about it, just as Oscar does. But I was also much more inclined to pretend things than to write them down. Now that I'm grown up, things are backward: I can't pretend much of anything without writing it down. That's why there's now a pretend brick house in Iowa to go along with the real one!" Kristin Kladstrup lives with her family near Boston, Massachusetts. This is her first novel.