A brilliant coming-of-age story, Borderline portrays an overwhelmed older brother, an over-ignored son, and a determined caregiver in the form of Guy Ritter. And a teacher who has it out for you, a best friend who won't stop eating, and a temperamental semi-girlfriend isn't enough, Guy's also been dealing with his "autistic" brother for way too long. All of the problems Guy's been burdened with has created quite a bit of stress. What can a thirteen-year-old kid do when his best friend's father's fast food feasting becomes perilous?
Emmaline Cayley... Aviation extraodinaire... Robert Burns... Errand Boy... Princess Purnah... Porok! Glekk!. Three young children, one evil kidnapper, and a suspenseful adventure in London- all woven together into one insane story called The Faceless Fiend. It starts off in a pretty conspicuous setting, in mad Mrs. Butterworth's cottage, with the three children attempting a flight experiment shortly followed by their teacher, Bellbuckle's lecture on why humans can't fly like birds and the first impressions of the three children's personalities.
Once upon a time, in a land so far away we've not even heard of it... Hai, a young girl living under Wyvern's Court, is basically a rouge. Half-family with royalty, she's an exile- a half-breed. She was born to a falcon mother that forgot her and a cobra father who'd died years ago. Her magical powers are strong; although so strong, she can only partially control it. That is, with the help of her friend, Nicias, the royal guard, who'd saved her life once before.
The book starts out with a bored young boy sitting in a room. He seems to be in punishment, and has received instructions to not break the mirror in the room, which otherwise only sports a chess set and a chair. Bored, he appears to begin daydreaming, or hallucinating, or actually dreaming, and the white king piece begins talking to him. Events lead into events, and very soon, he's in the mirror, talking to the chess pieces, his mysteriously young grandmother, and a thief.
The book starts out rather casually with the main character, Margaret Ann, complaining about her lack of personal space. The reader finds out early that she's forced, due to a lack of room, to sleep with her grandmother, who claims that she doesn't, but snores. She has four siblings, Elizabeth and Johnny, the elders, and the younger twins, Paige and Polly, who she can't tell apart. Elizabeth, at the time, is just getting ready to leave home for college, and Margaret Ann wastes no time in claiming her room, and moving in once Elizabeth leaves, though she misses her sister.
Flavia's father is severely injured one night, and the only suspect Flavia has in mind is her own tutor. Nubia, Jonathan, and Lupus (and later on, Megara) join her in her pursual of him, through unknown terrain, and various cities. An oracle tells Flavia's messanger with a rhyme, which none of them can figure out, and the group dismisses it after a little thought. Before that, though, they'd met a young beggar boy, who seems a little odd, but was otherwise a great help in some ways and a great bother in others.
