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Find out moreA drama professor at East Carolina University, Gregory Funaro lives with his family outside of Raleigh, North Carolina, where he is busy working on the next book in the Odditorium series.
The odd is the ordinary at Alistair Grim’s Odditorium, a peculiar building located somewhere in the streets of Victorian London and which teems with magic. Grubb (no first name, two b’s), twelve years old or thereabouts, orphan chimney sweep, arrives at the Odditorium by accident hidden in Mr Grim’s trunk, but settles in very well, quickly making friends with its assorted magical inhabitants. When his new home is threatened by the wicked Prince Nightshade, of course he lines up with the defenders. The action is pretty much non-stop and the fight scenes that follow are terrific. Funaro’s story fizzes with invention and the world he has invented with its extraordinary Potteresque cast of characters will delight children looking for stories that take readers far away from the everyday. ~ Andrea Reece Alma Books is an independent publisher mainly in the field of contempory fiction and classics. Around 40% of their titles are from English-language originals while the rest are translations from French, Spanish, Italian, Russian, Japanese and other languages. Alma Books have just launched a series of children's and young-adult titles, and promise a selection of great international authors and new talent. Their launch titles include - Alistair Grim's Odditorium by Gregory FunaroGabriel-Ernest and Other Tales by Saki Madame Tussaud's Apprentice by Kathleen Benner Duble Stones for My Father by Trilby Kent The Girl Who Leapt Through Time by Yasutaka Tsutsui The Selfish Giant and Other Stories by Oscar Wilde The Complete Peter Pan by J. M. Barrie
New York Times bestselling author Gregory Funaro brings us into a world where magic exists, monsters roam in the shadows, and wooden animals come to life. Deep within the enchanted woods in the town of Watch Hollow stands the once-grand Blackford House, whose halls hold a magical secret: a giant cuckoo clock that does much more than tell time. But when the clock's gears cease to turn, an evil presence lurking among the trees begins to come out of the shadows. When Lucy and Oliver Tinker arrive in Watch Hollow, they have no idea that anything is wrong. A mysterious stranger has made their father an offer that's too good for him to refuse. All Mr. Tinker needs to do is fix the clock at Blackford House and fistfuls of gold coins are his to keep. It doesn't take long, however, for the children to realize that there is more to Blackford House than meets the eye. And before they can entirely understand the strange world they've stumbled into, Lucy and Oliver must join forces with a host of magical clock animals to defeat the Garr-a vicious monster that not only wants Blackford House for itself, but also seeks to destroy everything the Tinkers hold dear.
Grubb, the young apprentice at Alistair Grim's Odditorium (a flying house of mechanical wonders) finds himself on the run, as all of London is convinced that Alistair Grim is a villain. Grim, however, has come up with a plan to defeat the real villain: the evil Prince Nightshade, who wants the Odditorium's power source for himself. Desperate to clear their master's name and save the world, Grubb and the rest of the Odditorium's crew set off on a perilous underwater adventure to the mythical realm of Avalon. The object of their quest? The legendary sword Excalibur, the only blade powerful enough to pierce Prince Nightshade's suit of magical armour. Along the way, Grubb and his friends must confront a murderous banshee, sea monsters, and a witch with a grudge against Alistair Grim. But that's not all, and Grubb soon learns that their fate was written long ago in an Avalonian prophecy that not even Alistair Grim could have predicted.
An enchanting book set in a world where the odd is the ordinary, evil has many faces and love is the most powerful magic of them all. Twelve-year-old Grubb lives a hand-to-mouth existence in Victorian England, working as a chimney sweep under a cruel master. After an incident at an inn, he hides in the trunk of one of its guests, the enigmatic Alistair Grim, and is whisked away to his Odditorium, a wonderful flying house full of incredible mechanical features powered by an enigmatic substance called animus. Now apprenticed to Grim, Grubb begins to settle into his new life and find a new family in the eccentric crew of the Odditorium, when suddenly his new world comes under attack by the evil Prince Nightshade and he is propelled into a perilous quest. As he gets caught up in the struggle, Grubb will learn valuable lessons and discover remarkable secrets about himself and his new host.
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