Because sometimes being an outcast is a superpower…
Upper Middle Grade and Early Teen...
Ages 10-15
Note: At middle-grade level, Madison Lane is only suitable for very advanced readers due to the complex storyline, and requirement for strong vocabulary skills and prior general knowledge.
In a family of magical treasure hunters, luckless Maddie Lane is the second-born and therefore doomed, like her mother before her, to a dull life of safe, boring jobs, expected to stay home and raise the next generation, while her elder sister inherits the magic and adventure of the family business. But Maddie has more history than anyone realised: someone has been waiting nearly 900 years for her to arrive. A seemingly chance gift grants Maddie access to a world even her experienced ancestors were unaware of, and suddenly it is Maddie who is set on the adventure of a lifetime as she becomes embroiled in a quest to save two planets.
Madison Lane is about to be Grounded. And it’s much more fun, adventure, and danger than she could have wished for.
Why we think smart teens/tweens will love it:
- Complex storyline.
- Smart main character and super-smart sidekick.
Physical store:
Soul Queen Art Co.
Shop 7, Railway Arcade,
255 Dorset Road,
Boronia, Vic, Australia
Online retailers:
Ages 10-14
Conjuring is in Phyllis Wong’s veins. The love for all things magical was passed down from her great-grandfather who, before his mysterious disappearance, was one of the world’s most brilliant and successful stage magicians.
When a series of incomprehensible robberies takes place nearby, Phyllis realises that there is more to the crimes than meets the eye. It might be baffling the police, but Phyllis is determined to find out more. Who is the thief and how is he achieving the impossible?
An intriguing mystery about a young sleuth with sleight of hand (and lots more up her sleeve).
True Middle Grade...
Ages 8-12
Edwardian murder mystery. Tabitha Crum is one of the sweetest heroines you’ll come across – she’ll simultaneously capture your heart and break it as she tries so desperately to earn the love of her cruel and heartless parents. Luckily for Tabitha she discovers that she was adopted and now she has a chance to inherit a fortune – if she turns out to be the true heir of the Countess of Windermere. But first there is a suspicious death to investigate, along with ghostly noises, weird happenings, and something else Tabitha can’t quite put her finger on.
Why we think clever kids will like it:
- Smart protagonist outwits criminals
- Outcast forms friendships in unlikely circumstances
Ages 8-12
Ally is one of the smartest kids in the school… except that she can’t read. It’s becoming harder and harder for her to keep her secret, especially when there are people who genuinely want to help. “If you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing it is stupid.”
Why we think clever kids will like it:
- Different ways of being “smart”
- Outcast forges strong friendships
- Tackling bullying
Early Middle Grade...
Ages 7-10+
Tween witch Pippa Dracona prefers mathematics to magic, so the chance to attend a school in Physicas, the realm of science, was supposed to be a dream come true. But the Dame Ivy Newton School for Gifted and Unusual Students has too many archaic and nonsensical rules. Pippa is about to fail her favourite subject and lose her place in the course. When she makes a spur-of-the-moment decision to let two human children into the realm of magic, she might have made her worst choice yet … or, perhaps, her best.
If Pippa is to keep an important promise, she must find a way to get the children home before the next witching hour begins. It’s time to enlist the help of some eccentric friends, solve a bizarre mystery involving unicorns and missing belongings, and gain some much-needed perspective. After all, there are two sides to every equation.
Weaving through The Convoluted Key are a number of feminist-friendly themes, such as a wide variety of female characters with different personalities and motivations, supportive female friendship, and thoughtful male characters who are respectful towards female characters.
Why we think smart kids will love it:
- Fairly complex storyline.
- Smart main character who enjoys Maths.
- Different ways to be “smart”.
Physical store:
Soul Queen Art Co.
Shop 7, Railway Arcade,
255 Dorset Road,
Boronia, Vic, Australia
Online retailers:
Ebook available on:
Elle Carter Neal is the author of the middle-grade chapter book The Convoluted Key, picture book I Own All the Blue, and teen science-fantasy novel Madison Lane and the Wand of Rasputin. She has been telling stories for as long as she can remember, holding childhood slumber-party audiences entranced until the early hours of the morning. Elle decided to be an author the day she discovered that real people wrote books and that writing books was a real job.