Thornghost

This alternate-realm fantasy is full of heart-racing action and will appeal to fans of Gregor the Overlander, Five Kingdoms, and Emerald Atlas

Something strange is happening to the woods and water around Niklas Summerhill’s home: Animals are dying, Niklas’s grandmother doesn’t seem like herself, and Niklas’s uncle is suddenly lost in grief over his sister, Niklas’s mother, who died seven years ago. When Niklas discovers an ancient key to a different realm, he and his talking lynx companion, Secret, travel there. But this realm, which is full of animals, is in danger as well: A tribe of evil trolls is wreaking havoc, a mysterious enemy called the Sparrow King is bringing his wrath down upon the animals, and the Rosa Torquata, the root that connects this realm and Niklas’s own, has developed a dark twist that’s infecting the land. Can Niklas and Secret save the animal realm — and their own? Through rousing battles with trolls, sand snakes, and skeleton birds, Niklas figures out how to free his animal friends — and his community back home — from the evil forces, and learns some much-needed truths about his dead mother along the way.