The Lightning Key: The Wednesday Tales No. 3 (Wednesday Tales (Quality)) - Softcover

Berkeley, Jon

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0060755156 ISBN 13: 9780060755157

Publisher: HarperCollins, 2010

Synopsis

The grand finale to Miles's spectacular adventures

Miles Wednesday is suddenly at the wheel of a great voyage. Determined to recover the stolen Tiger's Egg and free the trapped soul within, Miles sets off with his Song Angel friend, Little, and the wisecracking blind explorer Baltinglass of Araby across sea and desert to the home of Miles's aunt Nura, who may be their only hope in releasing the stone's true power. Their travels are riddled with thrills and near catastrophes, but most threatening is a dark Sleep Angel who's descended from the Realm to seize the Egg or forfeit Miles's life. Will Miles crack the secrets of the Egg and stand up to the Realm before he faces grave danger? And, above all, will he ever be able to bring back his father?

About this title

About the Author:

Jon Berkeley was born in Dublin when TV was black-and-white and airplanes still had propellers. He was the worst football (um, soccer) player in the entire parish, and his favorite food was spaghetti bolognese. Some things never change.

Jon has worked as a freelance illustrator for a quarter of a century and more recently has taken to writing. He is the author and illustrator of chopsticks, a story about the friendship between a mouse and a dragon, and has illustrated several books by other authors.

He is the author of the Wednesday Tales series—The Palace of Laughter, The Tiger's Egg, and The Lightning Key, which have been praised for their vivid storytelling, humor, and one-of-a-kind characters. Publishers Weekly said of the palace of laughter: "Berkeley weaves painterly details into his depiction of this night-shaded world but also injects an ample measure of humor."

From School Library Journal:

Grade 4-7–The final volume of the series hits the ground running as Miles Wednesday is robbed of the rare and powerful Tiger's Egg by the Great Cortado and his buffoonish sidekick. Accompanied by his friend Little and the blind explorer Baltinglass of Araby, Miles races the villains to the home of Nura, his mother's twin sister, who may know the secret of unlocking the Egg's power. The rousing pursuit sends the 12-year-old sailing on fantastic airships, trekking across desert sands, and even into the Realm of Angels, where he must defend himself against the Sleep Angels and the death sentence they have passed on him. The various plot threads and colorful characters from The Palace of Laughter (2006) and The Tiger's Egg (2007, both HarperCollins) are pulled together for a grand, albeit chaotic, finish. The final chapters are especially hectic, as Berkeley races to make sure all the loose ends are tied up. The journey there is a fine one, however, filled with the evocative description and engrossing narrative style that have typified the series, and the conclusion is on the whole satisfying.–Christi Esterle, Parker Library, CO
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About this edition

• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Publication date: 2010
• ISBN 10: 0060755156
• ISBN 13: 9780060755157
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 432
• Illustrator: Dorman Brandon