The Fire Chronicle

Kate, Michael and Emma want to go on searching for their missing parents, but enemies are closing in on all three. The wizard Stanislaus Pym hides them at the Edgar Allan Poe Home for Hopeless and Incorrigible Orphans and tells them they will be safe there. They are not.

Their enemies find them quickly, and in the chase that follows Kate is sent a hundred years into the past, to an enchanted and dangerous New York City. She needs a way back to her brother and sister. On the way she meets a mysterious boy whose fate is bound up with hers, and the tie between them carries risk.

Michael and Emma, meanwhile, set out to find the second of the Books of Beginning. A trail of clues takes them into a hidden world of harsh polar storms. There they must track down an ancient order of warriors and face terrible monsters. The book of fire is their goal, and they have to learn to master its powers.

This is a children's fantasy adventure and the second installment of the Books of Beginning trilogy, following events of the previous winter. The story splits between two threads, Kate's in the past and her siblings' quest. The tone is suspenseful and moves fast, with humor and warmth alongside the danger. The magic they chase could save the family or destroy them.