In this book for kids ten and up, Johnny Bey is on a lonely quest. He's trying to find his brother, even though Brendan has been missing for longer than anyone in the family likes to say.One summer day, Johnny finds in Brendan in an abandoned quarry. The problem: Johnny's brother has become see-through, and he's still 13 years old, the age he was when he disappeared two years before. Johnny is shocked and scared, and he has no idea what to do. But when Brendan leads him into the magic world of Mizzenglass, Johnny encounters more possibilities than he could ever have imagined.Mizzenglass is a land where missing children go. To get there, the brothers take a perilous journey through a dark and ghostly cave, relying on Johnny's quick wits and Brendan's bravery to get them through. When they arrive in Mizzenglass, Johnny finds a park-like land filled with children-and a zoo's worth of extinct creatures brought back to life. The Mizzen kids can ride mammoths, play with gentle sabre-toothed cats, even use a friendly dino's tail as a slide.There are so many possibilities, Johnny figures he might even find a way to get his brother home. But how? Following a trail of clues, Johnny soon finds the Sentinel, who guards the children of Mizzenglass. She tells him that if he wants to leave, he needs to form a Company of Seven to make the long journey out of her protection. Once they leave her happy realm, the Company will have to play a dangerous game against the evil Shadow.Johnny Bey is a friendly guy, and he quickly convinces five other kids to join him and Brendan in their Company. Claire is smart and bossy, the Twins are small but adventurous, Joe is wise and Rosa knows so much about the game that it scares her. Can they work together to defeat the Shadow? Or will the Shadow defeat the Company, and send them back to Mizzenglass? Lesley Krueger is an award-winning novelist. Her latest novel is Far Creek Road, published by ECW Press in 2023. Lesley's previous novel, Time Squared, was published in 2021. She has written four other novels, two short story collections, a travel memoir and a children's book. All are available as e-books, most on Draft2Digital.Lesley writes a free Substack newsletter, Alive to the World, in which she reviews books, writes about researching her novels and tells stories from her adventures. You can subscribe for free at lesleykrueger.substack.com
