Jenny Nimmo

The second book in the Children of the Red King series, Time Twister offers more magical fantasy that is fast paced and easy to read. January 1916: Henry Yewbeam and his younger brother, James, have been sent to stay with their cousins at the Bloor's Academy. It is one of the coldest days of the year, and all Henry wants to do is hide from his mean cousins and play marbles. He finds a nice, long hall and begins to roll his marbles. Then he discovers...

When an ancient enchanter is released from the grounds of Bloor's Academy, threatening both of Charlie Bone's parents, the only way Charlie and his friends can defeat him is by finding the red king himself.

Charlie and his friends unite to rescue Ollie, a boy who was turned invisible and made to live in the attics at Bloor's Academy more than a year ago, but they are hindered by a mysterious new student who lives with Charlie's aunts.

Charlie and the Children of the Red King must call upon all of their strength to defeat the darkness and finally learn the fate of Charlie's family, the evil intentions of the Bloors, what has become of Septimus Bloor's will, and the destiny of the Red King's heirs.

It is years since King Timoken, his sister Zobayda, and his friends settled in the enchanted Red Castle, but now they are all threatened by the evil beyond the castle's protective spells and it will be up to two of Timoken's nine children, Petrello and Tolomeo, to find out which of their siblings is the traitor in their midst, and defeat their enemies.

Gifts from Gwyn's grandmother on his ninth birthday open up a whole new world to him, as he discovers he has magical powers that help him heal the breach with his father that has existed ever since his sister's mysterious disappearance four years before.

Timoken has been living in apparent safety at Castle Melyntha with his sister, Zobayda, but when he is betrayed and attacked, he is forced to flee into the forest with his magic camel and the wizard Eri, leaving his sister behind.

Dando, a young dragon who cannot fly, is captured by dangerous humans, but a kind slave-girl, an orphaned bird, and the melancholy son of the dragon's captors help him escape his imprisonment and learn to fly.

Magically-gifted Charlie Bone, accompanied by his best friend's dog, Runner Bean, comes to the rescue when the enchanter Count Harken takes revenge on the Red King's heirs by kidnapping and imprisoning Charlie's ancestors in the dark, forbidding land of Badlock.