Cousins Nathan and Junie Kwan, and their friend, Sachin Sundara, are students in the prestigious and fiercely competitive Noble Hall School – dismissed as bookish nerds by the popular students who rule at school and subjected to micro-aggressions. Their friendship kept them afloat… until the bright new girl at school, Aida Anargul, befriended them.
Fashionista Aida brought a touch of glamour into their lives, and seemed to make the impossible seem possible. But their new found popularity is short-lived as Nathan’s world came crashing down when his precious Siamese cat disappears one night. The friends embark on a frantic search for Lapsang Souchong and discovered that their quaint little neighbourhood is hiding a dark secret.
The narrative merges the charm of old-school mystery, adventure and folklore; with complex Millennial characters, including (sometimes) unlikeable, annoying know-it-all protagonists and bold, formidable antagonists who are (sometimes) admirable.
Forced to work for her aunt like a modern-day Cinderella, twelve-year-old Zarra Nuraman thinks her life is awful until one day her fairy ‘godmother’ turns up and kidnaps Zarra’s baby cousin. Zarra follows her cousin and ends up in Kayangan – a parallel universe filled with the characters of the Malaysian folktales she grew up with. In this land where magic fairy coats and were-crocodiles exist, and where even saying the wrong thing can kill you, Zarra is being hunted by the evil Queen Zamrud. With the help of the Border Guardians, Khai and Amir, and a magic Bidari coat which can transport her anywhere she wants, Zarra has three days to rescue her cousin, and in the process discovers a secret which changes her life.
Julian Kee and his friends have already saved the Underworld twice from destruction and chaos. Can they do it a third time?
In his misguided attempts to harness the power of technology, the children’s erstwhile mentor Wuchiwark has unleashed a blight across the Underworld, causing the plants and animals to mutate into fearsome beasts. Only the legendary Twin Blades of Doom can undo the curse, so off the children are sent on yet another thrilling adventure! However, firmly believing that being a hero should be a once-in-a-lifetime experience, and not a permanent job, Julian hatches a daring plot which, if successful, will resolve the Underworld’s problems once and for all.
This third book in the Prophecy of the Underworld series continues to serve up much fun and laughter about adventures, heroes and the crazy world of publishing!
Seven-year-old Ying Xiong looks forward to a better life in post-war Singapore after the Japanese troops’ surrender in September 1945.
However, a new war erupts at home when Xiong’s father decides to return to his homeland in China. This tears the family apart when he takes Xiong’s two elder brothers back with him, whilst Xiong and his mother remain in Singapore.
Xiong navigates his childhood years alone in a poor neighbourhood as his mother ekes out a livelihood for them. He makes a friend in Kampung Silat, follows a fearsome teenage gangster in Silat Road and gets to know a brave police inspector who becomes his neighbour. Through all this, Xiong comes to realise what it takes to be a hero, which is also the meaning of his name Ying Xiong.
Little Hero is a touching work of fiction inspired by real-life events from the childhood years of the author’s father in post-war 1940s Singapore and beyond.
Once you enter Mount Hantu, you may never leave …
When Robin’s school organizes a glamping trip at Mount Hantu, not everyone is thrilled. But the campers are soon dazzled by the luxurious tents, cozy beds and even a giant flatscreen TV at the campsite!
Before long, terrifying things begin to unravel. From a brush with death to the disappearance of a fellow camper, Mount Hantu seems more forbidding than ever.
Robin soon discovers that they’re not alone—something. . . or someone . . . is watching them from the shadows. Robin must unravel the dark secret of Mount Hantu before it’s too late.
The Library of No Return brings back Julian Kee, Mia Pendrago and Ryan Chowdhury in yet another hilarious and adventure-filled jaunt to the Underworld. Once again, their help is required to deal with a crisis: Tago the Ef-frock has announced that he is tired of his powers being constantly exploited. He has now gone rogue, and is threatening to unleash his magic to destroy all who oppose him if he is not given world dominance.
The wise old man, Wuchiwark, believes that the Underworlders’ only hope is an ancient parchment rumoured to contain a formula which will help them find a balance to the Effrock’s hitherto unchallenged powers. This parchment is stored in the Library of No Return, a mysterious place from which no one who entered has ever emerged. The children agree to undertake this quest in secret, as their old nemesis the CATTSS (the ruling council of the Underworld) has forbidden anyone to enter the library, and will go all out to stop the children from obtaining this sacred relic. As the children embark on their new adventure, they soon realise that all is not as it seems, and they begin to wonder if there is more to the parchment than Wuchiwark has revealed to them, and, more crucially, if their enemy this time is not the CATTSS, but really Wuchiwark himself.
This instalment continues the series’ witty banter on fantasy and adventure tropes while being a delightful spoof on bookish habits and all things writerly!
The end of the world changes things. But most of all, it changes people too.
Six weeks after the world began counting its days in fading sunsets, Ava finds herself at a complete loss. Cassie is away, Roy is gone, and the last time she saw Brad, he was bleeding from three stab wounds to his chest with his right leg chopped off. With Connor by her side, all she knows now is that she has to survive – because real life is no game.
When rumours on the whereabouts of the Lightbringer – the elusive leader of the Pure – begin to surface among the myths, Ava and her friends decide to buff up their chances of survival with a welcome addition to their party. But the search for the alien leader is filled with uncomfortable truths, and, with the Ferals and the Hostiles taking over the Earth, Ava once again feels she’s way underleveled for the big battle ahead.
In the company of a cheery half-spider woman, a loyal dragon-horse, horned battle elves, and a host of stiff hopping corpses, Ava will have to unlock her own strength to fight the horrors of what’s to come.
An Extra Life token would really come in handy right now.
Five Elementals. A fallen kingdom. One survivor to restore it.
Following the events of last winter, Desert Rose flees the Oasis Kingdom with the rogue prince Wei,
his mother, and a newfound magical power in tow. When she learns that her father’s soul is trapped in the Darklands and can only be freed if the prophesied Elemental finds the spring, Desert Rose sets out to eliminate the other Elementals-starting with the one found in Oasis Kingdom’s biggest enemy, Lettoria. Meanwhile, in the Oasis Kingdom, newly crowned emperor Meng finds his position jeopardised by the return of his older brother, the exiled Prince Han. To secure the throne (and his life), he travels to Lettoria with his secret assassin Windshadow and proposes an alliance.
As their fates cross again, Desert Rose and Windshadow must join hands to defeat the Metal Elemental while Wei and Meng collude to restore the kingdom-and home-they left behind. But when Lettoria and Oasis Kingdom finally clash in a long-brewing war, Han reveals his dark ambition and a secret weapon that will unmake the kingdom and threaten the fates of all involved . . . a weapon that only an Elemental can destroy.
Winter Blue is a fourteen-year-old fairy-child who leads parallel lives in two worlds-the world of humans, and another, secret, wondrous world-Magic-Land. In Magic-Land she meets magical and interesting creatures like Sherbet, a creature who tastes as sweet as honey; Snow-Nos, white creatures that turn into a real nuisance every time it starts to snow; errant Mud-Mushrooms that are relocating to a new apartment before spring; and, of course, fairies, house-fairies, dwarflings and more.
Along with her fairy-child friend Timothy, Winter embarks on a new adventure. She discovers a secret opening leading to a hidden, subterranean world situated right under the human world. It is the home of ancient creatures called the ‘Stone-Giants’. Winter and her friends befriend the stone-giants and help them in their war against a secret cult that threatens to ruin them. They sail down rivers of boiling lava, cross the Waterfall of Fools, battle with blazing lava stalactites, and use the magic dust that had been given to them the last summer.
This is the third book in the beloved Winter Blue, Fairy-Child series.
Emmanuel was in school when he received a strange visitor. It seems that no one but Emman could see the boy who was dressed in an old-fashioned Malay outfit. When Emman approached him, the boy ‘spoke’ to Emman telepathically to tell him that he was The One. When Emman asked him The One what? The boy said, The One to save him. The boy made an urgent plea to Emman to help him, then dashed away hastily. A magic portal opened up and the boy stepped through it and disappeared.
Before he left, the boy had told Emman to attend a talk called The Redhill Tragedy. Curious, Emman searched online and found the talk to be at the National Museum. He asked his Peranakan, paternal grandmother to attend with him. The talk was about a boy Nadim, who was killed in the Redhill Tragedy. Suddenly, the boy Emman saw before, appeared again, telling Emman he was Nadim. He persuaded Emman to save him.
But what could Emman do? Nadim had lived and died in the 14th century Singapura. How could he undo history? And how would he be able to get back to the 14th Century to prevent Nadim’s murder? When he posed his dilemma to his Grandmother, Grandma surprised him by telling him that she can show him a way. But first he must have the courage to accept the quest.
