The Very Small Adventures of Anne Katrine

Aunt Jess pursed her lips, glared at Uncle Oskar, and spat out, "What did I tell you? She's a troublemaker, just like her high-falutin' mother!" The summer in Pennsylvania was not looking good for Anne Katrine (pronounced Ann-eh Kah-treen-eh). Her grandmother had promised to tell her a life-changing secret on her eleventh birthday. But now, she will never know what it was. Or will she? Staying with her spiteful relatives during her parents' trip to Denmark was hard enough, but when her parents' plane mysteriously disappears over the Arctic Circle, it is a curious visit by a group of very strange strangers that leads Anne to discover some astounding magic that changes her life forever. This enchanting juvenile fantasy book feels like a cross between the Chronicles of Narnia and Circus Mirandus; magical, yet not overwhelmingly magical. If Harry Potter had a younger, muggle sister, it might be Anne Katrine. And if the North Pole had two expatriate elves, they might be Yul and Nissa. The reading level may be 8 to 12 year-olds, but our testing groups found adults enjoyed the story just as much as the kids when they read it out loud to enthralled, younger audiences. Large black and white illustrations decorate every chapter-head. A free activity book and a homeschoolers and teachers guide is available from the website VerySmallAdventures.com.