The Midnight Hour
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- $11.99
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
For fans of portal fantasies like Jessica Townsend's Nevermoor, Colin Meloy's Wildwood, and The Spiderwick Chronicles by Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black, and unlike so many other fantasies that introduce readers to a world of enchantment and wonder, The Midnight Hour is one filled with beasts and monsters for readers looking to shine their flashlights under the covers.
When strange late-night letters start arriving at home, Emily's parents set off to investigate. But when her parents disappear completely and Emily is left home alone to face the weird strangers that begin to appear at her door, she takes all of the clues at her disposal and makes for the place where the letters came from -- the mysterious Night Post. What she'll discover is the secret world of the Midnight Hour -- a Victorian London frozen in time, full of magic and monsters.
Kept safe by an age-old agreement, the Night Folk have been exiled to a parallel world that can only be accessed by a selected few, including the mail carriers of the infamous Night Post that operate between the two worlds. Emily's parents are key players in keeping the Night Folk safe, but when the division of the two worlds is threatened, Emily must search for her parents while navigating this dark and unknown version of London.
Armed only with a packed lunch, her very sleepy pocket hedgehog, and her infamously big argumentative mouth, she must escape bloodthirsty creatures of the night, figure out her own family secrets, and maybe just save the world. This is a frightening and enchanting story, a world built out of creatures from our worst fears who become relatable, fully formed characters unlike any we've seen as these strangers of parallel worlds band together to save the day.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
When her mother disappears, followed by her father, quick-tempered Emily Featherhaugh seeks to find them in Read and Trinder's fun fantasy set in an adjacent London. She sets out for the Night Post and her dad's place of employment, armed with her mom's helpful sayings ("Never be knowingly under-snacked"); a necklace that her mother has always worn; oddments marked "Just in Case" from her father's desk; and her hedgehog, Hog. Though pursued through dark streets by an anthropomorphic bear, she arrives safely, using her father's magical key to enter the Night Post, arriving into a magical 1859 London called the Midnight Hour, inhabited by creatures driven from the world by human progress, where "it is always pitch dark, always full moon, and always, always midnight." Read and Trinder imagine a wonderfully spooky alternate world populated with creatures from legend and nightmare: as she works to rescue her parents, Emily is menaced by a vampire, rescued by a rare Pooka, and assisted by The Library (aka Language), a constantly quoting Older Power whose sisters are Art and Music. The authors create a determined heroine whose weaknesses are crucial to her quest's success, and a satisfying balance of fright and fancy. Ages 8 12.
