Anne Ursu Books in Order

Something extraordinary is about to happen to Charlotte Mielswetzski. It's not the very cute kitten that appears out of nowhere. It's not the arrival of her cousin Zee, who believes he's the cause of a mysterious sickness that has struck his friends back in England.

And it's not the white-faced, yellow-eyed men in tuxedos who follow Charlotte everywhere. What's so extraordinary is not any one of these things. It's all of them. When Charlotte's friends start to get sick, Charlotte and Zee set out to find a cure.

Their quest leads them to a not-so-mythical Underworld, where they face Harpies that love to rhyme, gods with personnel problems, and ghosts with a thirst for blood. Charlotte and Zee learn that in a world overrun by Nightmares, Pain, and Death, the really dangerous character is a guy named Phil.

And then they discover that the fate of every person -- living and dead -- is in their hands.

Inside an ordinary middle school in an ordinary city, a small redheaded eighth grader is doing something very ordinary, indeed. Ever since Charlotte Mielswetzski and her cousin, Zee, saved the world, life has been rather ordinary. Ordinary, that is, if you call being ultramegagrounded (in Charlotte's case) or treated as if you might fall to pieces (in Zee's case) ordinary.

Either way, heroes deserve better. Of course, no one knows Charlotte and Zee are heroes. It's not like they can simply announce that Greek myths are real or proclaim they have returned from the Underworld, where they rescued all of mankind from Philonecron, a deranged demigod with delusions of grandeur.

Instead, they are forced to keep this terrible knowledge to themselves, and are stuck in a state of extraordinary ordinariness. But things aren't quite as ordinary as they seem. For Philonecron is the grandson of Poseidon, and you don't mess with the progeny of the second most powerful god in the universe.

And Philonecron himself isn't so happy about having all of his delicious plans thwarted by mortal children. He wants revenge, and with his grandfather to help him, he is going to get what he wants. For Charlotte and Zee, their not-so-ordinary lives are about to be disrupted once again.

This time it's not the world they must save -- it's themselves. In the thrilling second installment of the Cronus Chronicles trilogy, author Anne Ursu brings her trademark wit to a spectacular adventure on the high seas.

After their near-fatal battle with Poseidon, Charlotte and Zee would love nothing more than to relax and forget all over again that the Greek gods are real. But with the world in peril and no one else to save it, that just isn’t an option. Charlotte and Zee meet the Prometheans, an ancient brotherhood trying to protect mankind from the whims of the gods, who think they might have finally found a weapon capable of bringing Zeus to his knees.

But using this weapon will come at a great cost, one Charlotte and Zee are not willing to pay. They strike out on their own for Mount Olympus, with the Prometheans, an angry Chimera, and all sorts of mythological beings on their tail…

What if you could suddenly remember everything that ever happened to you, every joy and every sorrow that you had ever endured Would it be a blessing -- or a curseThis is the fate of the residents of the town of Clarence, who fall under the spell of a strange and powerful drug that unlocks their memories.

The past comes flooding back without the buffer of time, and the townspeople, young and old, find themselves awash in their own reminiscences -- of love and death, of war and childhood, of happiness they've experienced, and sins they've committed.Beautifully rendered with a light comic touch, this bittersweet novel is about more than the sum of its beguiling parts.

Spilling Clarence explores our relationship with our histories, the seductive pull of regret, the unreliability of memory, and the bliss of forgetting. A universe peopled by exquisitely drawn characters, Spilling Clarence is a moving introduction to the impressive talents of an exciting new writer.

From the highly praised author of Spilling Clarence, a luminous novel about the joy of family and the perils of loving. The Woodrow family is going to the circus to celebrate Greta's seventh birthday. When five-year-old brother James eagerly volunteers to join the magic act, his parents watch with pride as he climbs onto the stage alongside the clown.

The trick is spectacular and applause rings through the crowd as James disappears--vanishing before their very eyes. The trouble is, James really did disappear . . . into thin air. In the aftermath of James's disappearance, with the police investigation providing no clues, the laws of the universe come into question.

His mother becomes lost in her dreams and his father becomes obsessed with the clown, while his big sister Greta sets out to figure out what happened. A novel peppered with dreams, premonitions, and possible realities, The Disapparation of James is a work of enormous sensitivity, tenderness, and wit.

The winner of numerous awards and recipient of four starred reviews, Anne Ursu's Breadcrumbs is a stunning and heartbreaking story of growing up, wrapped in a modern-day fairy tale.Once upon a time, Hazel and Jack were best friends. But that was before he stopped talking to her and disappeared into a forest with a mysterious woman made of ice.

Now it's up to Hazel to go in after him. Inspired by Hans Christian Andersen's "The Snow Queen," Breadcrumbs is a stunningly original fairy tale of modern-day America, a dazzling ode to the power of fantasy, and a heartbreaking meditation on how growing up is as much a choice as it is something that happens to us.

In Breadcrumbs, Anne Ursu tells, in her one-of-a-kind voice, a story that brings together fifty years of children's literature in a tale as modern as it is timeless. Hazel's journey to come to terms with her evolving friendship with Jack will deeply resonate with young readers.

Supports the Common Core State Standards

National Book Award Longlist * Bank Street Children's Book Committee Best Book of the Year"Beautifully written and elegantly structured, this fantasy is as real as it gets."—Franny Billingsley, author of ChimeThe Real Boy, Anne Ursu's follow-up to her widely acclaimed and beloved middle grade fantasy Breadcrumbs, is a spellbinding tale of the power we all wield, great and small.

On an island on the edge of an immense sea there is a city, a forest, and a boy named Oscar. Oscar is a shop boy for the most powerful magician in the village, and spends his days in a small room in the dark cellar of his master's shop grinding herbs and dreaming of the wizards who once lived on the island generations ago.

Oscar's world is small, but he likes it that way. The real world is vast, strange, and unpredictable. And Oscar does not quite fit in it.But now that world is changing. Children in the city are falling ill, and something sinister lurks in the forest.

Oscar has long been content to stay in his small room in the cellar, comforted in the knowledge that the magic that flows from the forest will keep his island safe. Now even magic may not be enough to save it.

Three starred reviewsA Publishers Weekly Best Children’s Book of 2019Anne Ursu, author of the National Book Award nominee The Real Boy, returns with a story of the power of fantasy, the limits of love, and the struggles inherent in growing up.When you’re an identical twin, your story always starts with someone else.

For Iris, that means her story starts with Lark.Iris has always been the grounded, capable, and rational one; Lark has been inventive, dreamy, and brilliant―and from their first moments in the world together, they’ve never left each other’s side.

Everyone around them realized early on what the two sisters already knew: they had better outcomes when they were together.When fifth grade arrives, however, it's decided that Iris and Lark should be split into different classrooms, and something breaks in them both.

Iris is no longer so confident; Lark retreats into herself as she deals with challenges at school. And at the same time, something strange is happening in the city around them, things both great and small going missing without a trace.As Iris begins to understand that anything can be lost in the blink of an eye, she decides it’s up to her to find a way to keep her sister safe.

Maximilian Funk is the new kid in school, and not much of a baseball fan, a deadly combination. He has to figure out a way to impress Molly Kinsman, the best pitcher in the city and the most beautiful girl he's ever seen. One little lie couldn't hurt, could it?This short story from the collection Guys Read: The Sports Pages is a winner.

SWASHBUCKLING FANTASY features excerpts from 10 series by bestselling and critically acclaimed authors such as Margaret Petersen Haddix, author of the Shadow Children series, D.J. MacHale, author of the Pendragon series, Scott Westerfeld, author of Uglies and Holly Black, author of Valiant.

This online sampler also highlights six debut series from rising stars in fantasy, including Kai Meyer, Jane Johnson and Obert Skye. This fantasy sampler is the perfect way to introduce middle grade through teen readers to alternate worlds, distant pasts and fantastic creatures! Don't miss out on any of our amazing fantasy titles!