Product Description

Set seventy years before The Various, the second book in the trilogy follows the adventures of young Celandine at the onset of the First World War. Having run away from her detested boarding school, Celandine is too afraid to go home in case she is sent back. As she seeks shelter in the Wild Wood near her home, little does she think she will encounter a world where loyalty and independence is fiercely guarded, and where danger lurks in the most unlikely of places. Celandine's troubled character finds both refuge and purpose among the secret tribes of little people that she alone believes in.

The novels of the Various trilogy are full of mystery, beauty and adventure; this second novel is both page-turning and life-affirming.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1387851 in Books
• Published on: 2006-08-22
• Released on: 2006-08-22
• Original language: English
• Dimensions: 8.51" h x 1.48" w x 5.86" l, 1.49 pounds
• Binding: Hardcover
• 496 pages

From School Library Journal
Grade 7-10–A prequel to The Various (Random, 2004). Celandine is the odd student at her new boarding school, the one who doesn't fit in. World War I has just begun and her brother has enlisted, leaving her feeling even more alone. She hatches a plan to escape the institution's cruelty and ridiculous rules and regulations, returning to familiar ground and the friends she left behind–the Various, who inhabit Howard's Hill near her home. But all is not well with the little people, and a tribal war breaks out. The intrigue begins early in the story, but some readers might find that the flashback takes up too much of the novel; it travels back three years in time and doesn't return to 1915 until 200 pages later. However, those who stick with it will be rewarded, as, in the end, they find out why Celandine acted as she did and learn more about the Various.–Dylan Thomarie, Johnstown High School, NY
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist
Gr. 7-10. This prequel to The Various (2003), which focuses on Midge's great-aunt Celandine, amplifies the little peoples' saga. Celandine's beloved brother is lost in the Great War, and boarding school is a horror; the set pieces about the war and about the cruelty of girls and female teachers are powerful and terrible. But on her parents' farm, Celandine has found a way to the Various--winged warriors, travelers, foragers, and others, who do not mingle or trust one another and call humans ogres and Gorji. They possess two great treasures, the touchstone and the orbis. The safety of and the relationship between these artifacts form the unresolved core of the story line. Both worlds are finely imagined, down to the details of a tiny Various child or the burdensome maintenance of Celandine's thick golden curls. This is a fast and compelling read despite its length, although it ends with the fate of the Various unknown and Celandine about to make a cliff-hanger of a choice. Celandine is a teen protagonist who doesn't fear her own darkness but hasn't yet mastered her gifts. GraceAnne DeCandido
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review
Praise for the Various:
"A marvelous blend of old-fashioned storytelling, the book has a freshness and immediacy that will intrigue fantasy lovers of all ages."--VOYA
"A rousing addition to the durable genre of British fairy lit."--The New York Times Book Review
"Augarde unfolds the events gradually, allowing readers to luxuriate in the near-idyllic setting he has created and beckoning them back for future installments."--Publishers Weekly