The Lost Wonderland Diaries

When dyslexic, math-loving Celia Lofton meets avid reader Tyrus Weller at the library, the two become fast friends, especially when they realize they’ve both just moved to San Jose, Calif., and dread standing out as eighth graders. Then they stumble across a mysterious chest containing the lost diaries of Charles Dodgson, alias Lewis Carroll, from whom Celia is descended. Upon solving the chest’s coded lock, the duo is sucked into the parallel world of Wonderland—which is even less logical and more dangerous than Carroll’s depictions, with many of the inhabitants, including the White Rabbit, transformed into monsters. Heralded as “the Alice,” the sole savior of Wonderland, Celia and Tyrus don’t feel heroic; all they want is to find their way home, which may prove impossible. Savage (the Mysteries of Cove series) packs this loving homage to Carroll’s work with riddles, puns, ciphers, and more, challenging his intrepid heroes at every turn, even as they learn to combine their strengths to overcome their weaknesses. Playing with typography to further embrace its source material’s gleeful absurdity, this adventure captures the Wonderland spirit while updating it for a new era. Ages 8–11. Agent: Michael Bourret, Dystel, Goderich, and Bourret. ([em]Sept.) [/em]