The Magpie King by M. J. Fahy
A beautiful middle grade magical adventure: In the large and frightening world of the Bigguns, Tatty Moon, a faerie child, must rid her village of thieving magpies and rampaging Gnomes, all under the spell of the Queen’s merciless nephew. With the help of a group of friends who include a gypsy, an elf, a wood sprite, an elderly rat, and a hawk-sized dragonfly, Tatty journeys far to try and defeat him.
Andee the Aquanaut by S J House
Andee the Aquanaut series
by S J House
Genre: fantasy
Readership: middle grade
Synopsis for Book One: Guardian of the Great Seas
This is a story of high adventure under the low seas, as one extraordinary boy finds his destiny. The forces of evil are gathering to take control of the ocean’s underworld. Only one boy and his unique marine friends can stop them. Andee the Aquanaut becomes the greatest eco-warrior of all time.
Andee is a curious and spirited boy living on an island. His parents, marine biologists, search the reef for new sea-life that could cure illnesses. Andee befriends two young dolphins, Tingo and Tango. One day a terrifying storm rips across the island and waves pull Andee out to sea. In their dinghy, his parents are lost forever. Tingo and Tango save Andee and he becomes a member of their dolphin family. Little does he know, however, he is the Chosen One.
Exploring the sunken Lost City, Andee meets the Wise White Dolphin. Special powers are given to him, allowing him to become one of the great and legendry Aquanauts of the Marine Kingdom. Wearing his magical Aquanaut suit, Andee can breathe underwater, dive to great depths, and speed through the currents. He courageously uses his powers to daringly rescue and save endangered marine life, including dolphins, turtles and manta rays, from fishermen and poachers. The Wise White Dolphin mentors him, and he learns to talk to the jellyfish which can communicate over vast distances.
But Andee misses his parents very much. The Wise White Dolphin gives him a locket that his mother wore, and Andee sets out on a quest to find them. He’s also found an ancient tooth; the key to a dangerous world. Using the tooth to open a submerged door, Andee is sucked into a vortex that whirls him to great depths where he’s attacked by a sea monster.
His seemingly lifeless body is saved by Yolanda, princess of the merpeople. She takes him to her castle where he revives and meets Yolanda’s formidable step-mother, the evil Zadora. As Yolanda’s father, the king, lies dying, Zadora plots to usurp the throne from Yolanda. A water spirit tells the princess and Andee how the treasures of the Lost City were stolen, and are now stored in the castle. Andee still wants to find his parents, but now has a new mission: to return the treasures to the Lost City, reversing the greed of the merpeople, so that balance can be restored in the oceans of the world.
However, the greedy Zadora is plotting to do the exact opposite: to loot and plunder the oceans for gain. Who will win this epic struggle; and will Andee even survive against the terrifying power of the evil mer queen? Will he ever find his parents, and will he one day return to his true love, Yolanda?
