The Kingdom of Trolls (Middlegate)

Cousins Sophie and Wil certainly have their hands full. Wil's old friend Mr. Bertram is blamed for the disappearance of a priceless manuscript and lands in jail, things are up in the air at Auntie Vi's Fortune-Telling with a new competitor next door, Sophie and Wil have exams to study for, Aunt Rue doesn't get the new job at the Secretariat after all, and their neighbour, Mrs. Oleander, falls deathly ill.

But that's not the half of it.

When they travel with their eccentric fortune-telling aunt on a prize trip to Iceland sponsored by Perfect Products (purveyors of Aunt Violet's beloved crystal ball), Wil and Sophie face danger and magic - galdur. They are even - not to give away too much - captured by trolls and almost end up in the soup du jour!

Meanwhile, the Serpent's Chain, an ancient secret society, will stop at nothing to reclaim Wil's magical black medallion. Despite the danger to their own lives, Sophie and Wil struggle valiantly to learn more about the Chain, whose web of deceit, they discover, extends all the way to Iceland.

In short - what a mess!

Rae St. Clair Bridgman is an award-winning author and illustrator of children's books. A university professor, anthropologist, urban planner, co-director of an architectural design firm, mother of six, and grandmother of nine, she has a knack for finding the magical and extraordinary in the ordinary, in between the cracks of reality.

The Kingdom of Trolls, the fourth book in her acclaimed MiddleGate series, was inspired by three field trips to Iceland as a visiting artist and her desire to bring the real sights, sounds, smells, and tastes of Iceland to life for readers in Canada and elsewhere.

The first book in the MiddleGate series, The Serpent's Spell, was a finalist for the McNally Robinson Book for Young People Award at the Manitoba Book Awards, while the second book, Amber Ambrosia, won the Moonbeam Children's Book Award (Pre-Teen Fiction) gold medal. Book III, Fish & Sphinx, won an honourable mention from the Speculative Literature Foundation and was nominated for a Cybils Award for Fantasy and Science Fiction. The Kingdom of Trolls has won the Moonbeam Children's Book Award (Pre-Teen Fantasy) bronze medal, and like The Serpent's Spell, was shortlisted for the McNally Robinson Book for Young People's Award.

In her spare time, Rae enjoys watching ants, chasing crayfish, reading the dictionary, playing tuba, watching clouds, and inventing toys. Some of her favourite sayings are: "Often, secrets do not remain secrets for long." "Things that disappear by themselves can come back by themselves." "Problems can multiply like flies." "The story certainly changes depending on the storyteller."

She lives in Winnipeg, Manitoba with her family.