Spooks, Spells, and Spacetime Antics!

Join us at Books of Wonder to discover three magical middle grade reads! We are so pleased to be hosting CAROLYN MACKLER, author of Right Back at You, CAMRYN GARRETT, author of The Forgotten Summer of Seneca, KATHERINE MARSH, author of The Gods’ Revenge, and LORIEN LAWRENCE, author of The Many Hauntings of the Manning Family. It’s rare that a story so perfectly combines the fantastic with the human, and we’re lucky enough to have four of them! In CAROLYN MACKLER’s Right Back at You, two kids, Mason and Talia, struggle with bullying and isolation, and despite living in different decades, they become pen pals. CAMRYN GARRETT’s The Forgotten Summer of Seneca follows the grief-stricken Rowena who, after falling through a portal in central park, finds herself in the mystical, mysterious world of Seneca village. KATHERINE MARSH returns to her Myth of Monsters series with The Gods’ Revenge. In the sequel to Medusa, Ava Baldwin must lead a journey from the underworld to Mount Etna in order to save her friend. LORIEN LAWRENCE's The Many Hauntings of the Manning Family follows thirteen-year-old paranormal investigators Gabby and Trent Manning, who must vanquish a demon in order to save their mother. These are heartfelt tales of magic, mystery and the struggles of growing up. Come celebrate them at what’s sure to be an incredible event!

About the Book - Right Back at You

Mason lives in 2023. His parents have just split up and there’s a guy at school that just won’t get off his case. As part of an assignment, he writes a letter to Albert Einstein but it ends up getting a little too personal.

He throws the letter into his closet.

Talia lives in 1987. Her classmates make fun of her because she’s Jewish and her friends don’t seem to care. She feels completely alone. That is, until she finds a letter from a boy named Mason.

From the award-winning author of Not If I Can Help It comes a story about bullying, isolation – and a friendship that reaches across time.

About the Book - The Forgotten Summer of Seneca

Twelve-year-old Rowan Robinson doesn’t really want to be in New York for the summer. Since her father passed away, she doesn’t want much of anything.

She feels better when she takes his old camera to Central Park. She feels more connected to him. But as she’s taking photos, she sees something strange: a floating, mirror-like shape. A portal. Rowan falls through it and finds herself in Seneca village, a place where Black people with magical abilities seem to live in a time before technology. And where she finds a new friend, Lily.

As wonderful as it all seems, she and Lily question how she was able to find the portal in the first place. The girl who usually guards it has recently gone missing and the pair begin to wonder: could these events be connected? What secrets might the village be hiding?

The Forgotten Summer of Seneca asks us to remember a history that’s often overlooked—and imagine a future where we’re brave enough to embrace change.

About the Book - The Gods' Revenge

The gods lied. Ava Baldwin knows that now, and she’s ready for her second year at the Academia del Forte. Her fellow classmates, descendants of the so-called Greek monsters, were fed false stories by the Olympians – and she’s going to uncover the truth.

But the new headmaster, Perseus, is sadistic. When he banishes one of her friends, Ava must act. She leads a rescue party on the journey of a lifetime, from the Stygian Marsh of the underworld to the freezing ice caves of Mount Etna. But can they outrun Ares and the spirits of violent death? It’s no easy task to trick the gods twice.

About the Book - The Many Hauntings of the Manning Family

Thirteen-year-old twins Gabby and Trent Manning are Connecticut’s youngest paranormal investigators. Both have inherited “the gift” from their grandparents, the Mannings, whose legendary ghost hunts inspired several books and movies—but whose names have been nearly forgotten since their untimely deaths years ago.

Armed with EMF machines, flashlights, and recording equipment, the twins’ mom drags them all over New England in an attempt to bring their family back into the limelight. Never mind how they feel about it. Their mom thinks their latest destination is exactly what the family needs to go viral: the abandoned Majestic Theater, the site of the late Mannings’ infamous failed exorcism.

However, nothing about this investigation goes according to plan. After a terrifying séance-gone-wrong on the stage, their mother goes missing in the building, and it’s clear that a powerful demon is haunting the theater. Will the twins be able live up to their grandparents’ legacy and vanquish the demon—before it’s too late?

Saturday, April 26th at 3pm at Our 17th St Store!