Friendship

My story starts the day that my parents told me we must leave our adopted home forever. Because of the soldiers and the drought, we barely had enough to eat and we could no longer stay to help the people in our village.

You've maybe heard the story about how John Hawkins "ran away with his pet dog." But the truth is that John and Mouse left to save Tom, and that Mouse is much more than just an ordinary dog.

As the only female page in history to last beyond the first year of formal training to become a knight, 11-year-old Keladry of Mindelan has an uphill battle to fight.

When Keladry of Mindelan is chosen by the legendary Lord Raoul to be his squire, the conservatives of the realm hardly think she's up to the job. Kel quickly proves her ability as a jouster, warrior, and guardian of a fiery griffin, ultimately earning respect and admiration among the men, as well as the affection of a fellow squire.

Kel has finally achieved her lifelong dream of being a knight. But it's not turning out as she imagined at all. She is torn between a duty she has sworn to uphold and a quest that she feels could turn the tide of war.

Torak circled the fire and Thiazzi came after him: slowly, cracking his whip, playing with his prey as a lynx plays with a lemming. Torak was exhausted. He wasn't going to last much longer. When he was outcast, Torak was the hunted one. Nine moons later he becomes the hunter, when he vows to avenge the killing of one of his closest friends.

Will is an orphan and a ward of the castle. He hopes to someday become a great hero. But he is a small boy, and only the biggest and toughest are selected as warriors. He has other talents though, and they catch the attention of the mysterious Ranger Halt. Will soon masters stealth and accuracy with the bow.

Time has passed since the apprentice and his master, Will and Halt, led the Araluens to victory against invaders, and Will is now a full-fledged Ranger with his own fief to look after. The fief seems sleepy - boring, even - until the king is poisoned.

John Flanagan's New York Times best-selling Ranger's Apprentice novels enthrall young readers with their epic tales of heroism and sorcery set in the medieval realm of Araluen. Ranger Will, an apprentice no longer, nobly oversees his own peaceful fief.

On the seventh day, there was a choice.

The Last Apprentice series follows the terrifying adventures of the Spook's apprentice, Thomas Ward. But Tom's is only one story. There are others.

The Spook himself was once an apprentice. How did he begin his training?

And what of Alice, the young witch who is Tom's closest ally? How did she overcome her dark past?

The Spook and his apprentice, Thomas Ward, deal with the dark. Together they rid the county of witches, ghosts, and boggarts. But now there's some unfinished business to attend to in Priestown. Deep in the catacombs of the cathedral lurks a creature the Spook has never been able to defeat; a force so evil that the whole county is in danger of being corrupted by its powers. The Bane!

Warning: Not to be listened to after dark.

For years, Old Gregory has been the Spook for the county, ridding the local villages of evil. Now his time is coming to an end. But who will take over for him? Twenty-nine apprentices have tried: some floundered, some fled, some failed to stay alive.

The native people of the Copper Isles, the raka, know that the ancient prophecy handed down by their trickster god is on the brink of coming to pass. But what they don't know is that all their hopes rest on the slender shoulders of Aly Homewood, formerly Alianne of Pirate's Swoop.

This third book in the Song of the Lioness quartet continues Alanna's saga as she strikes out alone and discovers herself anew.