Friday Freebie: Brightwood by Tania Unsworth and Two Unbelieveable FIBs by Adam Shaughnessy

Congratulations to Terry Pearson, winner of last week’s Friday Freebie giveaway: The Fortunes by Peter Ho Davies.

This week’s book contest is for three new books from Algonquin Young Readers: Brightwood by Tania Unsworth and The Unbelieveable FIB: The Trickster’s Tale and The Unbelieveable FIB: Over the Underworld by Adam Shaughnessy. These would make a perfect back-to-school gift for the young bookworms in your life (which is not to say adult readers won’t have a whopping good time reading them, too). Read on for more information about the books...

In the spine-tingling Brightwood, a girl fights to save her home and her life from a mysterious stranger. Daisy Fitzjohn knows there are two worlds: the outside world and the world of her home, a secluded mansion called Brightwood Hall. But only Brightwood is real for Daisy—she’s never once set foot outside its grounds. Daisy and her mother have everything they need within Brightwood’s magnificent, half-ruined walls, including Daisy’s best friends: a talking rat named Tar and the ghost of a long-ago explorer who calls herself Frank. When Daisy’s mother leaves one morning, a peculiar visitor, James Gritting, arrives on the estate, claiming to be a distant cousin. But as the days tick by and Daisy’s mother doesn’t return, Gritting becomes more and more menacing. He wants Brightwood for himself, and he will do anything to get it. Tania Unsworth takes readers on a twisting, heart-pounding journey through dark corridors and wild woods to a place where the line between imagination and madness is sometimes hard to find.

In The Trickster’s Tale, MAGIC is everywhere....and the last thing you should do is believe your own eyes. Dark clouds and ominous thunder have been hanging over Middleton for days. Some say it’s just bad weather, but eleven-year-old Pru will soon learn that it’s much, much more dangerous than that. Mythical beings are invading her usually ordinary town, and it’s up to Pru and newcomer ABE—with help from an uncommonly rude squirrel and the mysterious Mister Fox and his Fantasy Investigation Bureau—to save their home from being destroyed by battling Norse gods. To do that, they’ll have to outrun trolls and enter worlds of myth and magic. When the pair find themselves locked in a battle against a dangerously clever enemy, they race to find the lost Eye of Odin, source of all knowledge—and the key to stopping a war that could destroy both human and immortal realms. This book was originally published as The Entirely True Story of the Unbelievable FIB.

In Over the Underworld, friends ABE and Pru race to stop the chain of events foretold in Norse myth to lead to Ragnarok—the war that ends the world. It’s been a year since friends ABE and Pru joined Mister Fox’s Fantasy Investigation Bureau to save their hometown from an invasion of Viking gods and giants. Life has been incredibly ordinary ever since. Then the Norse Allfather, Odin, appears with terrible news: Baldur, his favorite son, has been murdered—the first step in a fated chain of events that leads to Ragnarok. Over the Underworld, the second book in the Unbelievable FIB series, takes ABE and Pru on a thrilling new adventure. They outrun trolls, explore Asgard and the Viking underworld, and try to outsmart the Queen of the Dead herself to save the world—and survive seventh grade.

If you’d like a chance at winning all three books, simply email your name and mailing address to

thequiveringpen@gmail.com

Put FRIDAY FREEBIE in the e-mail subject line. Please include your mailing address in the body of the e-mail. One entry per person, please. Despite its name, the Friday Freebie runs all week long and remains open to entries until midnight on Sept. 15, at which time I’ll draw the winning name. I’ll announce the lucky reader on Sept. 16. If you’d like to join the mailing list for the once-a-week newsletter, simply add the words “Sign me up for the newsletter” in the body of your email. Your email address and other personal information will never be sold or given to a third party (except in those instances where the publisher requires a mailing address for sending Friday Freebie winners copies of the book).

Want to double your odds of winning? Get an extra entry in the contest by posting a link to this webpage on your blog, your Facebook wall or by tweeting it on Twitter. Once you’ve done any of those things, send me an additional e-mail saying “I’ve shared” and I’ll put your name in the hat twice.