Synopsis
Backyard or battleground? From the piles of mysterious recluse comes an adventure so epic, no dwarf, fairy, nor dragon can take it on alone
For Arty to miss a day of school, either he is very, very sick or a fairytale-character turf-war has begun in his backyard — such as what begins this particular Wednesday. First, he finds an ax-swinging, bearded, sweaty warrior Dwarf scaring his dogs. Soon enough, Emma, Cry and other middle-school friends also find fairy creatures — Elves, Spriggans, Pixies, and a hoped-for Dragon — crashing into their normal homework-doing, backpack-carrying, phone-charging schooldays.
Why are these magical beings here? What should be done? Is that axe sharp? Can Pixies be given aspirin?
Arty with his friends — and spying jerks, and questionable strangers with long names — follow the clues and try to find out, even as things turn dark and dangerous.
The mythical beings are taking sides. The Gwyllion, that legendary Old Woman of the Mountains, has a sinister plan, turning the neighborhood into a fantasy battleground. One that awaits young heroes.
Read an excerpt here
Interview with Gertrude Dee Marplot
Gertrude is the great-granddaughter of Professor Marplot. She shares some insights into the book and the author.
How and when did you discover your great-grandfather’s manuscripts?
I was very young — I think 5 or 6 years old — when I went on an extended family reunion that had us tramping all over Great Britain. All I remember of Great-Grandad is wandering around in this dark old mansion. It looked like a cathedral, with the light inside coming at all crazy angles and through huge colored windows, and everywhere were large bookcases, and bookshelves, from floor to high-ceiling, and with every desk or table piled high with old papers, books stuffed with flattening parchments, scrolls and tube containers — a musty, dusty maze through the whole house. And they told me not to touch any of it! That experience definitely started my love of books. I don’t think I was even there very long, but those images are burned into my memory, a very happy one.
I don’t remember seeing the professor too much, but he must have noticed me because when we left, he wobbled over to me — he had a cane, was very old and gray with a stiff, short beard and a pipe sticking out of his fat, fluffy mustache. He said something about me being a good girl and that I should read a lot, or something. I don’t remember much else; it was so long ago and dream-like. But on my birthday every year since, he sent me some old parchment or ancient
book with leaves disintegrating off the binder, and they were about very strange things — supposedly hidden knowledge or stories that just looked like a mess of
symbols to me. Some had designs with bright colors and gold and silver etched lines — and pictures! Very cool.
When I was 13, I asked him to send me something that I could actually read, something a normal girl would like. And in pieces — large pieces, in big boxes —
I started to receive papers filled with more modern stories. And with very little explanation! I finally convinced him to get a computer and email so we could
communicate faster and more often. He wouldn’t want me to say much more, but he did help me get the papers in order, and he told me all he knew of their history — which honestly wasn’t much.
How did you weave together the story as you sorted the tattered pages, and how long did it take?
A long time for “Dwarf Story” because pieces of it arrived in a scattered and disorganized way. And specifics as to the story’s setting were missing — as if any scenes that revealed specific data were intentionally left out, cut from existence. With some — very little — help from my great-grandfather I narrowed down some possible U.S. locations for the story, though it could have taken place almost anywhere. The place names in the tale were hints, as well as the weather and landmarks. I followed clue after clue, the way Arty does in the story, and did the best I could. Interesting that such a modern story could have such a mysterious source. I was just about 15 when the first package with “Dwarf Story” pages came — marked as “Mary’s letters,” and those scenes from the middle of the book. Because I recently finished it, it was about eight years from beginning to end. A lot of fun! But eight years to tell a story that takes place over one week is crazy!
What do you think your grandfather would say, knowing you went through all of this effort to tell his stories?
I think he will be proud to see more stories published because, to him, they are the latest link in a long chain. One theme of all his research and investigations concerns stories of young adults and how they cross into the fantastic and legendary. Though he doesn’t communicate much — or say much when he does communicate — so it’s hard to tell. But I think he is enjoying it.
Do you think your grandfather left behind more pages that you’ve yet to uncover?
Oh, yes. In fact, there are pages that didn’t make it into the book, a few scenes that definitely take place in Scotland, but they didn’t fit the main story and still need work. It is a good question I ask myself also: For how long will I keep getting more “Dwarf Story” pages?
Did you learn more about your grandfather after discovering his writing? Was anything surprising?
Only that he seems more real, sometimes, seeing the work he did to collect these stories, and the writing he did on pulling together all old legends and connecting them up — like what I did for “Dwarf Story,” now that I think about it! Though his work is much, much greater. The hidden knowledge he compiles and collects and seams together is truly amazing — and I have only seen a small part of it!
About the Author
Professor Welkin Westicotter Marplot, of Coillemuir, Scotland, is a collector of esoteric tales of global wisdom and curator of ancient manuscripts. He is a recluse and, as he claims, has been collecting and collating adventure and fantasy stories for over a century.
Obert Skye is currently writing this short bio you are now reading. He is worried that saying he has many best-selling books and has won numerous awards might sound braggy. Likewise, he is concerned that listing some of his titles—like the Leven Thumps series, or the Pillage trilogy, or The Creature from My Closet, or Mutant Bunny Island—might sound brash and uncouth. Sure, he’s good at doing underwater handstands and reciting the alphabet by memory, but pointing out things like that only feels as if he’s showing off. And is it too personal to mention that he is married and has multiple kids and lives somewhere warm? Who knows?
Ten-year-old Glory Bea Bennett believes in miracles. After all, her grandmother—the best matchmaker in the whole county—is responsible for thirty-nine of them so far.
Anne Bustard is the former co-owner of Toad Hall Children’s Bookstore in Austin, Texas, and an MFA graduate of the Vermont College of Fine Arts. She is the author of the middle grade novel, Anywhere But Paradise, as well as two picture books, RAD! and Buddy: The Story of Buddy Holly, which was an IRA Children’s Book Award Notable and a Bank Street Book of the Year. Hawaii-born, she divides her time between Texas and Canada.
After her grandfather died from a heart attack while driving his tractor on Solace Hill, twelve-year-old Esme’s been inextricably drawn to that spot, although her grandmother warns her to stay away. But when she follows her little brother, Bo, and her dog, Old Jack, up the hill while chasing fireflies, she makes an incredible discovery—dinosaur bones peeking out from underneath the abandoned tractor.
Suzanne Crowley is the author of two acclaimed novels for young readers, The Very Ordered Existence of Merilee Marvelous and The Stolen One. The author, who is also a miniaturist and dollhouse collector whose work has graced the covers of magazines worldwide, was born in a small town in Texas and lives in Southlake, Texas. When not hugging her dog or imbibing in chocolate, she can often be found taking a nap.
About the Author
Quijana is a girl in pieces.
About the Author
A runaway boy befriends a polar bear that’s being transported from Norway to London in this lyrical and timeless adventure story about freedom, captivity, and finding a family.
Although Susan loves to write about long-ago and faraway places, she can’t bring those worlds to life without grounding them in the details of this one. To that end, she has explored lava tubes and sea caves; spent the night in a lighthouse; traveled along the Silk Road in Iran; ridden in a glider, on a camel, and on a donkey; and cut up (already dead!) baby chicks and mice for a gyrfalcon’s dinner. To research Journey of the Pale Bear, she explored the grounds of the Tower of London and went backstage at the Oregon Zoo, where, standing breathtakingly near, she watched polar bears Tasul and Conrad lip grapes from their keepers’ open palms.
