Tangled in Time: The Portal

“Kathryn Lasky’s latest is a sleight-of-hand that will have you clapping your hands. With the brio and big-heart that characterizes all of Lasky’s work, this opening salvo of a new series can be heralded with trumpet fanfares and clouds of rose petals.” —Gregory Maguire, author of Wicked and Egg & Spoon

For fans of the Royal Diaries series and Gail Carson Levine, Newbery Honor-winning author Kathryn Lasky delivers the first enchanting adventure in a compelling new middle grade portal fantasy series about a newly orphaned girl who finds herself time-travelling between the present day and the court of the two most memorable English princesses in history.

Life used to be great for Rose: full of friends, a loving mom, and a growing fashion blog.

But when her mother dies in a car crash, Rose is sent away to live with a strange grandmother she hardly knows and forced to attend a new school where dealing with bullies is a constant struggle.

The only place Rose finds refuge is in her grandmother’s greenhouse. But one night she sees a strange light glowing from within it. She goes to investigate...and finds herself transported back five hundred years to Tudor England and Hatfield Palace, where she becomes servant and confidant of the banished princess Elizabeth, daughter of King Henry VIII.

Rose soon discovers something else amazing—a locket with two mysterious images inside it, both clues to her own past. Could the greenhouse portal offer the key to unlock the family secrets of her past?

• Time Travel Adventure: Step from a modern-day greenhouse into the 16th century, where Rose must navigate the treacherous and fascinating world of the royal court.
• Friendship and Royalty: Form an unlikely bond with the banished Princess Elizabeth, daughter of the formidable King Henry VIII, and become her most trusted confidant.
• A Middle Grade Mystery: Uncover clues hidden within a mysterious locket that could finally reveal the truth about Rose’s own lineage and her mother’s past.
• Modern-Day Struggles: Balance a secret life in the past with the challenges of a new school, where a group of mean girls threatens to make Rose’s present as dangerous as the Tudor court.

“A convincing, compelling time-travel series rife with Tudor drama.” - Kirkus Reviews

“Will leave readers hoping for a sequel.”   - Booklist

“Catnip for readers who enjoy immersion in the period detail of times past, and they’ll welcome the promise of other periods and places to come.” - Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books

“Readers who enjoy plot twists and turns will embrace this historical fantasy.” - School Library Journal

“Kathryn Lasky’s latest is a sleight-of-hand that will have you clapping your hands... With the brio and big-heart that characterizes all of Lasky’s work, this opening salvo of a new series can be heralded with trumpet fanfares and clouds of rose petals.” - Gregory Maguire, author of Wicked and Egg & Spoon