{"product_id":"akarnae-isbn-9781662621291","title":"Akarnae","description":"\u003cb\u003e“Lynette Noni is a marvelous and inventive storyteller, whose books are absolutely impossible to put down. I can’t wait to see what she comes up with next!” — Sarah J. Maas, author, \u003ci\u003eThrone of Glass\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eA Court of Thorns and Roses\u003c\/i\u003e series\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAlex’s journey begins with a single step in book one of The Medoran Chronicles. This young adult fantasy reimagines the wonder of new worlds, appealing to fans of Narnia, X-Men, and the works of Rick Riordan and Sarah J. Maas.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAlex’s disastrous first day at a new school takes a strange turn when she steps through a doorway into Medora—a fantasy world filled with wonders beyond her imagination. With no way to return home, Alex enrolls at Akarnae, an academy for gifted students who welcome her as one of their own.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn her search for answers, Alex discovers far more than she expected to. And as a sinister threat looms over Medora, Alex starts to realize that not only does she belong there, but she may be the only one who can save it.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAn unwilling pawn in a deadly game, Alex bears the heavy responsibility of saving an entire race—but what if doing so means she can never go back home?\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWill Alex risk her entire world—and perhaps her life—to save Medora?Lynette Noni is the bestselling and award-winning author known for\u003ci\u003e The Prison Healer \u003c\/i\u003eseries, \u003ci\u003eThe Medoran Chronicles\u003c\/i\u003e, and the \u003ci\u003eWhisper\u003c\/i\u003e duology. Her books have sold over one million copies worldwide.“Honey, if there was any other way, your mother and I would\u003cbr\u003etake you with us in a heartbeat.”\u003cbr\u003eAlexandra Jennings stared out the car window into the\u003cbr\u003edense forest and sighed deeply into her phone. “I know, Dad.\u003cbr\u003eBut it still sucks.”\u003cbr\u003e“I’m sorry, sweetheart,” came her father’s reply. “But the\u003cbr\u003eInternational Exchange Academy is one of the best schools in\u003cbr\u003ethe country. They’ll take good care of you.”\u003cbr\u003eAlex only just managed to hold back the words that tried to\u003cbr\u003eleap from her tongue straight down the phone line.\u003cbr\u003eTake me with you! she wanted to scream. Don’t abandon me!\u003cbr\u003eThat was what it felt like her parents were doing, even if it\u003cbr\u003ewasn’t their fault. They’d been offered the opportunity to study\u003cbr\u003eunder a famous archaeologist—a once in a lifetime invitation—\u003cbr\u003ebut there was a catch. They couldn’t take anyone with them,\u003cbr\u003ewhich meant Alex was being shipped off to a boarding school for\u003cbr\u003ethe rest of the school year—eight whole months.\u003cbr\u003eAnd it got worse. Not only were they leaving her behind,\u003cbr\u003ethey were also headed to some middle-of-nowhere dig-site in\u003cbr\u003eSiberia—as in, Russia—which was in a complete communication\u003cbr\u003edead-zone. No phone coverage. No Wi-Fi signal. Not even a\u003cbr\u003epostman. After today, Alex wouldn’t be hearing from them again\u003cbr\u003euntil they returned at the beginning of June for the summer\u003cbr\u003eholidays.\u003cbr\u003e“I just hate that I won’t be able to contact you,” Alex said,\u003cbr\u003enot for the first time. “What if I get bitten by a tick and end\u003cbr\u003eup with Lyme disease?” Her eyes scanned the thick woodland.\u003cbr\u003e“It’s a definite possibility. And don’t even get me started on how\u003cbr\u003emany wild animals Wikipedia says are in the forest up here.\u003cbr\u003eWhat if I get eaten by a bear? Or a cougar? I won’t be able to\u003cbr\u003ecall you and tell you what happened!”\u003cbr\u003eHer father’s amusement rang clearly through the connection.\u003cbr\u003e“In the unlikely event that you’re mauled to death by the\u003cbr\u003ewildlife, you won’t be able to call anyone.”\u003cbr\u003e“But no one else will be able to call you on my behalf,\u003cbr\u003eeither,” Alex pointed out. “That means you’ll miss my funeral\u003cbr\u003eand you’ll never get any closure about my death. You’ll always\u003cbr\u003ewonder if it was a wolf or a bobcat that enjoyed Alexandra à la\u003cbr\u003ecarte.”\u003cbr\u003eHer father chuckled. “I’m going to miss your sense of humour.”\u003cbr\u003e“Dad, I’m being serious here. Carnivorous animals are no\u003cbr\u003elaughing matter.”\u003cbr\u003eHe wisely ignored her and instead said, “Your mother’s\u003cbr\u003emaking weird hand gestures at me. I’m guessing the Valium\u003cbr\u003ehave finally kicked in. I made her take a double dose—you\u003cbr\u003eknow how much she hates flying—so I think the peacockbobbing\u003cbr\u003eand flapping arms mean she wants to talk to you. I\u003cbr\u003ebetter put her on before she takes someone’s eye out.”\u003cbr\u003eAlex smiled into the phone. “Probably a good idea.”\u003cbr\u003e“I love you, sweetheart. The time will pass quicker than you\u003cbr\u003erealise.”\u003cbr\u003eBefore she could respond, a crinkling noise sounded through\u003cbr\u003ethe earpiece as he handed the phone over.\u003cbr\u003e“Alex?” came her mother’s somewhat slurred voice. Another\u003cbr\u003eten minutes and she’d be out cold—which was for the best, since\u003cbr\u003eshe really didn’t do well on planes.\u003cbr\u003e“I’m here.”\u003cbr\u003e“I don’t have long, they’ve just started boarding our—hic!—\u003cbr\u003eflight,” she said. “But I wanted to say—hic!—goodbye, again.”\u003cbr\u003eAlex frowned at the back of the seat in front of her. “Are you\u003cbr\u003eall right?”\u003cbr\u003e“Fine, fine,” her mother said, hiccupping again. “I just had a\u003cbr\u003elittle drink to help wash down the sedative. Hic!”\u003cbr\u003e“I’m pretty sure you’re not supposed to mix alcohol with\u003cbr\u003ethose drugs, Mum,” Alex said, failing to keep the humour from\u003cbr\u003eher voice. “And you know, statistically speaking, you’re more\u003cbr\u003elikely to get kicked in the head by a mule than to die in a plane\u003cbr\u003ecrash. You’re going to be fine.”\u003cbr\u003e“Of course I will be.” Her mother’s words became even more\u003cbr\u003eslurred as the medication continued taking effect. “And you will\u003cbr\u003ebe, too. I know you wanted to come with us, but this is really for\u003cbr\u003ethe best. Hic! You’ve been stuck following us around the globe\u003cbr\u003efor your entire life—it’s time you settled in one place and had a\u003cbr\u003echance to make some friends your own age.”\u003cbr\u003eHer mother had a point. Moving countries every few months\u003cbr\u003ewhile her parents chased the next big archaeological discovery\u003cbr\u003ehadn’t helped Alex’s social development. She didn’t have any\u003cbr\u003efriends—she wasn’t even sure how to make friends. High school\u003cbr\u003epolitics were beyond her understanding; she had no idea what\u003cbr\u003eto expect from her new school. It wasn’t like she could just go\u003cbr\u003eand sit beside someone in the sandpit, eat dirt with them, and\u003cbr\u003edeclare a state of ‘besties forever’.\u003cbr\u003e“You’re right,” Alex said, mustering up as much optimism\u003cbr\u003eas she could. “I’m sure everything is going to work out great.”\u003cbr\u003e“That’s the—hic!—spirit,” her mother replied. “Now, I\u003cbr\u003ebetter go before the purple monkey eats my last banana. Hic!”\u003cbr\u003eAlex pulled her phone from her ear and looked at it\u003cbr\u003equizzically before returning it once more. “What did you\u003cbr\u003esay?”\u003cbr\u003e“I said—”\u003cbr\u003eShe was interrupted by Alex’s father in the background.\u003cbr\u003e“Time to board, Rach. Say ‘goodbye’.”\u003cbr\u003e“I have to go, Alex,” her mother said. “I know you’re going\u003cbr\u003eto have a fabulous time at the—hic!—academy. We’ll see you in\u003cbr\u003eJune. Not long now!”\u003cbr\u003eClearly the meds were doing their job, especially if eight\u003cbr\u003emonths equalled ‘not long now’. But Alex didn’t want to ruin\u003cbr\u003eher mother’s happy buzz, so she kept her mouth closed.\u003cbr\u003e“I love you, baby. Be careful, but have fun!” And with those\u003cbr\u003efinal words, a quiet click disconnected the last phone call they’d\u003cbr\u003eshare for a long, long time.\u003cbr\u003eFeeling disheartened, Alex turned to look out the car window\u003cbr\u003eagain, noticing that there were many more trees surrounding\u003cbr\u003ethem now than before. It was clear evidence of just how easily a\u003cbr\u003efew hours of driving had transported her from her most recent\u003cbr\u003ehome in Cannon Beach, Oregon, to somewhere on the outskirts\u003cbr\u003eof Mount Hood National Forest. The change in scenery from\u003cbr\u003ethe rocky coastline to the thickening woodland was startling,\u003cbr\u003eand Alex couldn’t help but feel like she was already a long way\u003cbr\u003efrom her comfort zone.\u003cbr\u003e“Miss? We’re here,” her driver finally said.\u003cbr\u003eThey’d stopped in a private driveway barricaded by two\u003cbr\u003emassive, wrought-iron security gates. A sign woven into the\u003cbr\u003esteelwork spelled out the words: ‘International Exchange\u003cbr\u003eAcademy’.\u003cbr\u003eThe driver spoke quietly through the intercom and a\u003cbr\u003emoment later the gates opened without so much as a creak.\u003cbr\u003eThey moved slowly up the narrow, tree-lined path until they\u003cbr\u003ereached the academy itself.\u003cbr\u003e“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Alex muttered at the view\u003cbr\u003eout the window.\u003cbr\u003eThe academy really wasn’t all that different from the stereotype\u003cbr\u003eshe’d envisioned—big, ostentatious, gothic even. But the students?\u003cbr\u003eThey looked miserable. All of them wore tight, uncomfortablelooking\u003cbr\u003euniforms despite the fact that it was Sunday afternoon\u003cbr\u003eand there were no classes until the next morning. And they didn’t\u003cbr\u003eappear to be doing anything; they were just loitering aimlessly. It\u003cbr\u003ewas as if they had nothing better to do than wait for someone\u003cbr\u003eto come along and break into the monotony of their boring\u003cbr\u003eexistence. Looking at them, Alex seriously doubted she’d be able\u003cbr\u003eto follow her mother’s advice to ‘have fun’.\u003cbr\u003eWhen the car pulled to a stop, she noticed a group of students\u003cbr\u003emingling near a gaudy, medieval-styled water fountain. They\u003cbr\u003eweren’t smiling. They weren’t laughing. They were barely even\u003cbr\u003etalking amongst themselves. All Alex could think was that she\u003cbr\u003ewould be more likely to make friends with a rock than any of\u003cbr\u003ethe students scowling in her direction.\u003cbr\u003eDon’t judge by appearances, she told herself. First impressions\u003cbr\u003eweren’t always accurate, right? Alex might not like being\u003cbr\u003eabandoned at the academy, but she was determined to at least\u003cbr\u003etry and make the most of her stay. And that meant keeping an\u003cbr\u003eopen mind, regardless of the unwelcoming vibes coming from\u003cbr\u003eher new classmates.\u003cbr\u003e“I’ll take your bags,” her driver offered, interrupting her\u003cbr\u003ethoughts. “You should head into the administration building\u003cbr\u003eand speak with the headmaster.”\u003cbr\u003eAlex grabbed the enrolment papers from her bag and\u003cbr\u003ehanded the rest of her luggage over. She wasn’t an official\u003cbr\u003estudent yet since her parents hadn’t had the time to properly\u003cbr\u003eenrol her before leaving.\u003cbr\u003e“Which way do I go?” she asked the man as he started to\u003cbr\u003ewalk away with her belongings.\u003cbr\u003eHe pointed to the closest building and left her standing on\u003cbr\u003eher own while the zombie-like students just stared at her.\u003cbr\u003eRight, let’s get this over with, she thought, gathering her courage.\u003cbr\u003eShe wasn’t an animal in a zoo, and she didn’t appreciate all the\u003cbr\u003especulative glances directed her way. Nevertheless, she held her\u003cbr\u003ehead high and headed towards the administration building.\u003cbr\u003eAs she walked around the fountain she flicked through her\u003cbr\u003epaperwork once more—partly to avoid looking at the creepy\u003cbr\u003egargoyle statues around the water feature, partly to avoid\u003cbr\u003emaking eye contact with the other students, and partly to make\u003cbr\u003esure everything that needed to be signed was, in fact, signed.\u003cbr\u003eAlex was so distracted by her papers that she barely heard\u003cbr\u003ethe whispered, “Fish out of water, think we should help her?”\u003cbr\u003eand the corresponding, “Absolutely. We wouldn’t want her to\u003cbr\u003echoke.”\u003cbr\u003eBefore she could properly register the words, something\u003cbr\u003eslammed into her, causing her to stagger forward. She managed\u003cbr\u003eto regain her balance just in time to avoid a messy fall into the\u003cbr\u003egrungy-looking water.\u003cbr\u003e“Oh, I’m so sorry!” a girl around Alex’s age said. “I’m so\u003cbr\u003eclumsy sometimes.”\u003cbr\u003e“It’s okay,” Alex assured her, straightening. “No harm done.”\u003cbr\u003e“Brianna! You’re always getting in the way! You almost sent\u003cbr\u003ethe new girl into the fountain. What kind of a welcome would\u003cbr\u003ethat have been?” said another girl who stepped up beside them.\u003cbr\u003e“Really, it’s fine,” Alex said again. She didn’t want to cause\u003cbr\u003eany problems before school even started. It was bad enough that\u003cbr\u003eshe was transferring mid semester.\u003cbr\u003e“It’s fine?” the newest girl repeated with a toothy grin.\u003cbr\u003e“Hear that, Brianna? She said it’s fine.”\u003cbr\u003eAlex wasn’t sure what to make of their exchange. Their\u003cbr\u003eidentical beaming smiles put her on edge, so she quickly excused\u003cbr\u003eherself. “I have to go and see the headmaster, but I’m sure I’ll\u003cbr\u003esee you both around.”\u003cbr\u003e“Oh, allow us to help,” the non-Brianna girl said. “It’s the\u003cbr\u003eleast we can do. You wouldn’t want to go to the wrong place\u003cbr\u003eand cause a—”\u003cbr\u003eHer timing was perfect, really. When Alex stepped forward,\u003cbr\u003eBrianna ‘accidentally’ tripped over her own feet again. She\u003cbr\u003ebumped hard into Alex who had nothing to hold on to and\u003cbr\u003eno room left to find her balance. With her arms cartwheeling\u003cbr\u003euselessly, Alex fell straight into the fountain.\u003cbr\u003eThe moment her head broke through the surface of the\u003cbr\u003ewater, she heard non-Brianna gleefully finish the last word of\u003cbr\u003eher sentence.\u003cbr\u003e“—splash.”\u003cbr\u003eThe previously quiet courtyard erupted into laughter.\u003cbr\u003e“Welcome to the academy, Newbie.”\u003cbr\u003eAlex scowled at the two girls as she swiped her sopping\u003cbr\u003ehair out of her eyes and pulled herself out of the fountain. She\u003cbr\u003eignored the continuing laughter and marched towards the\u003cbr\u003eadministration building, determined to put as much distance\u003cbr\u003ebetween her and the uniformed—and mean—zombies as\u003cbr\u003epossible.\u003cbr\u003eBarely five minutes had passed since she’d arrived at the\u003cbr\u003eacademy and already she knew her parents had been wrong.\u003cbr\u003eJudging by her classmates’ welcoming committee, there was no\u003cbr\u003eway she was going to have an enjoyable time, nor was it likely\u003cbr\u003eshe’d make any friends. Not a single person had tried to help her\u003cbr\u003eout of the fountain—they’d all been too busy laughing at her.\u003cbr\u003eThat told her all she needed to know. She would just have to\u003cbr\u003egrit her teeth and get through the next eight months, and once\u003cbr\u003eher parents were back, she would never have to return to the\u003cbr\u003eacademy again.\u003cbr\u003eShe trudged forward with bitter resolve and tried to air out\u003cbr\u003eher enrolment papers, but there was nothing she could do since\u003cbr\u003ethey were just as soaked as she was. At least the ink hadn’t run,\u003cbr\u003ethat was something.\u003cbr\u003eAlex entered the building and paused when she caught sight\u003cbr\u003eof her reflection in a mirror just inside the doorway. Her clothes\u003cbr\u003ewere stuck to her shivering body, her long dark hair was stringy\u003cbr\u003eand wet, and her normally warm brown eyes were darkened by\u003cbr\u003eher turbulent emotions.\u003cbr\u003eShe shook her head and turned away from her bedraggled\u003cbr\u003eappearance. So much for making a good first impression.\u003cbr\u003eDripping water all the way, Alex headed over to the\u003cbr\u003ereception desk.\u003cbr\u003e“Can I help you?” asked the lady seated there, without so\u003cbr\u003emuch as a glance upwards. It was probably for the best since\u003cbr\u003eAlex was leaving a small lake on the pristine floor.\u003cbr\u003e“I’m here to enrol,” Alex said. It didn’t take a genius to hear\u003cbr\u003ethe misery in her voice.\u003cbr\u003e“Name?” the woman asked.\u003cbr\u003e“Alexandra Jennings.”\u003cbr\u003e“Take a seat, Miss Jennings.”\u003cbr\u003eAlex shuffled over to a line of chairs and sat down with a\u003cbr\u003esquelch. She still couldn’t believe what had transpired outside.\u003cbr\u003eShe wondered if it was too late to try and call her parents one\u003cbr\u003elast time—and convince them to find a way to smuggle her\u003cbr\u003eaway with them—but she knew it was useless. Their plane had\u003cbr\u003eprobably already taken off; they were likely long gone. She was\u003cbr\u003eon her own.\u003cbr\u003e“The headmaster will see you now,” the receptionist said,\u003cbr\u003estill not bothering to glance up. “Down the hallway, third door\u003cbr\u003eon the right.”\u003cbr\u003eAlex rose from her seat and headed down the brightly lit\u003cbr\u003ecorridor, soon losing sight of the reception area.\u003cbr\u003eIf only things could be different, she thought sadly, knocking on\u003cbr\u003ethe headmaster’s door. There was no answer, so she tried again,\u003cbr\u003elouder. When still no call came to enter, Alex shrugged and\u003cbr\u003eturned the handle.\u003cbr\u003eIt was dark inside the room. Pitch-black, in fact.\u003cbr\u003e“Hello?” she called out from the doorway. “Is anyone in here?”\u003cbr\u003eJust as she was about to retrace her steps and go back to the\u003cbr\u003ereception, the room exploded with light. Alex had to hold her\u003cbr\u003ehand up to shield her eyes from the sudden brightness. When\u003cbr\u003eshe was able to lower her arm again, she stared in shock at the\u003cbr\u003esight before her.\u003cbr\u003e“What the…?” she whispered.\u003cbr\u003eI must have hit my head when I fell into the fountain, she reasoned.\u003cbr\u003eIt was surely the only explanation for the view in front of her.\u003cbr\u003eThe doorway opened into a small forest clearing. Sunlight\u003cbr\u003estreamed through the canopy of evergreens and their shadows\u003cbr\u003edappled the mottle-coloured forest floor. The surrounding\u003cbr\u003etrees continued further than her eyes could see, with no school\u003cbr\u003ebuildings in sight.\u003cbr\u003e“It must be some kind of optical illusion,” Alex muttered\u003cbr\u003eto herself. She glanced behind her and took in the sterile walls\u003cbr\u003eof the corridor before she turned to face the forest again. She\u003cbr\u003ecouldn’t wrap her head around the different scenery, but\u003cbr\u003esomething about the dense woodland captivated her attention.\u003cbr\u003eI’ll just have a quick look around, she thought. No one will know.\u003cbr\u003eThen I can come back and meet the headmaster.\u003cbr\u003eDecision made, Alex quickly stepped through the doorway\u003cbr\u003ebefore she could change her mind. She expected to hear the\u003cbr\u003ecrunching noise of dried leaves under her feet, but instead\u003cbr\u003ethe ground disappeared and suddenly, impossibly, she was\u003cbr\u003ecatapulted through the air. The wind rushed past her,\u003cbr\u003ewhooshing by her ears as she flew along at what felt like the\u003cbr\u003espeed of light.\u003cbr\u003eJust when she thought she might throw up, everything\u003cbr\u003estopped.\u003cbr\u003eAlex’s heart thumped wildly in her chest. She lay spreadeagled\u003cbr\u003eon the ground but had no idea how she’d landed. Her\u003cbr\u003eeyes were shut tight, but she could feel the leafy forest floor\u003cbr\u003eunderneath her; she could smell the woody scent of pine cones\u003cbr\u003ein the air; and she could hear noises—branches creaking, birds\u003cbr\u003esinging, wind whistling through the trees.\u003cbr\u003eHesitantly, she opened her eyes and looked around,\u003cbr\u003efinding herself lying in the middle of the forest clearing she’d\u003cbr\u003eseen through the doorway. But the doorway itself—and the\u003cbr\u003eadministration building—was nowhere in sight.\u003cbr\u003eThe good news was that her airborne journey had\u003cbr\u003emysteriously dried out her sodden clothes and hair. She wasn’t\u003cbr\u003eeven damp anymore. The bad news was that she had no idea\u003cbr\u003ewhere she was or how she was supposed to get back.\u003cbr\u003eAlex sighed and threw her arms out to the sides, sending\u003cbr\u003eleaves scattering. “This new school sucks.”","brand":"Astra Young Readers","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48232912519397,"sku":"NP9781662621291","price":15.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9781662621291.jpg?v=1773168164","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/products\/akarnae-isbn-9781662621291","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}