Eva Ibbotson

For nineteen-year-old Harriet Morton, life in 1912 Cambridge is as dry and dull as a biscuit. Her stuffy father and her opressive aunt Louisa allow her only one outlet: ballet. When a Russian ballet master comes to class searching for dancers to fill the corps of his ballet company before their South American tour, Harriet's world changes. Defying her father's wishes and narrowly escaping the clutches of the man who wishes to marry her, Harriet sneaks off to join the ballet on their journey to the Amazon. There, in the wild, lush jungle, they perform Swan Lake in grand opera houses for the wealthy and culture-deprived rubber barons, and Harriet meets Rom Verney, the handsome and mysterious British exile who owns the most ornate opera house. Utterly enchanted by both the exotic surroundings and by Rom's affections, Harriet is swept away by her new life, completely unaware that her father and would-be fiancé have begun to track her down...

After the Russian revolution turns her world topsy-turvy, Anna, a young Russian Countess, has no choice but to flee to England. Penniless, Anna hides her aristocratic background and takes a job as servant in the household of the esteemed Westerholme family, armed only with an outdated housekeeping manual and sheer determination. Desperate to keep her past a secret, Anna is nearly overwhelmed by her new duties—not to mention her instant attraction to Rupert, the handsome Earl of Westerholme. To make matters worse, Rupert appears to be falling for her as well. As their attraction grows stronger, Anna finds it more and more difficult to keep her most dearly held secrets from unraveling. And then there's the small matter of Rupert's beautiful and nasty fiancée...

A collection of short stories by the author of Madensky Square reveals the writer's ability to write funny and erudite historical fiction.

Ellen never expected the Hallendorf school to be quite so unusual. Her life back in England with her suffragette mother and liberated aunts certainly couldn't be called normal, but buried deep in the beautiful Austrian countryside, Ellen discovers an eccentric world occupied by wild children and even wilder teachers, experimental dancers and a tortoise on wheels. And then there is the particularly intriguing, enigmatic, and very handsome Marek, part-time gardener and fencing teacher. Ellen is instantly attracted to the mysterious gardener, but Hitler's Reich is already threatening their peaceful world, and only when she discovers Marek's true identity and his dangerous mission does Ellen realize the depth of her feelings for him - and the danger their newfound love faces in the shadow of war.

Am längst geschlossenenen Bahnsteig 13 von King's Cross herrscht alle neun Jahre Hochbetrieb. Nur dann öffnet sich die geheime Tür des Gügel und gibt für genau neun Tage einen Tunnel frei, der in eine völlig andere Welt führt – auf eine Insel, die so zauberhaft ist, dass man nie mehr weg möchte. Doch eines Tages passiert etwas Schreckliches: Der kleine Königssohn des Inselreichs wird während einer Gügel-Öffnung in London entführt. Erst neun Jahre später können vier auserwählte Retter aufbrechen, um den Prinzen zurückzuholen. Doch den vier Abgesandten bleiben nur neun Tage für ihre schwierige Aufgabe. Ein Wettlauf gegen die Zeit beginnt

‘Get me some ghosts,’ said Fulton Snodde-Brittle. ‘Frightful and dangerous ghosts!’ Fulton has gone to the Dial A Ghost agency with an evil plan. He wants to hire some truly terrifying ghosts to scare his nephew Oliver to death. The Shriekers are the most violent and sickening sceptres the agency has, but a mix-up means the kind Wilkinson ghosts are sent in their place. Now Oliver has some spooky allies to help him outwit the wicked Snodde-Brittles... ‘You`ll love this chain-rattling, blood-oozingly hilarious story` Daily Telegraph

In an attempt to get rid of little Oliver from Helton Hall, his cousins hire a company to scare him out of his own home, yet things suddenly take a twist when Adopta, a girl spirit, turns against the cousins to side with Oliver to remove the plotting duo from the premises.

¡Buscadme una bruja!, vocifera Arriman el Espantoso, anunciando a gritos su intención de casarse. Y naturalmente, la esposa del temido Mago del Norte debe ser una bruja que tenga los poderes más oscuros del universo. Pero ¿dónde encontrar a la más feroz de todas? La única solución es convocar un concurso de hechizos. Por un lado, la seductora madame Olimpia ejecuta la terrible Sinfonía de la muerte y logra estremecer al mismísimo Arriman. Por el otro, la magia de la amable Belladona, la bruja blanca, no acaba de funcionar, pues de su varita salen perfumadas flores en lugar de serpientes, y los murciélagos cuelgan de su dorado cabello en vez de convertirse en vampiros sedientos de sangre. La pobre Belladona está deseando convertirse en una malvada bruja, pero ¿será capaz de conseguirlo? De la misma autora de El secreto del andén 13, te presentamos esta desternillante historia de magia que fue finalista del premio Carnegie Medal.

When the kindly old aunts decide that they need help caring for creatures who live on their hidden island, they know that adults can't be trusted. What they need are a few special children who can keep a secret-a secret as big as a magical island. And what better way to get children who can keep really big secrets, than to kidnap them! (After all, some children just plain need to be kidnapped.) Don't miss this wildly inventive and funny read from master storyteller Eva Ibbotson.

Sent in 1910 to live with distant relatives who own a rubber plantation along the Amazon River, English orphan Maia is excited. She believes she is in for brightly colored macaws, enormous butterflies, and "curtains of sweetly scented orchids trailing from the trees." Her British classmates warn her of man-eating alligators and wild, murderous Indians. Unfortunately, no one cautions Maia about her nasty, xenophobic cousins, who douse the house in bug spray and forbid her from venturing beyond their coiffed compound. Maia, however, is resourceful enough to find herself smack in the middle of more excitement than she ever imagined, from a mysterious "Indian" with an inheritance, to an itinerant actor dreading his impending adolescence, to a remarkable journey down the Amazon in search of the legendary giant sloth.

Spring, 1922 Tessa is a beautiful, tiny, dark-eyed princess – who’s given up her duties to follow her heart, working for nothing backstage at the Viennese opera. No one there knows who she really is, or that a fairytale castle is missing its princess, and Tessa is determined to keep it that way. But secret lives can be complicated. When a wealthy, handsome Englishman discovers this bewitching urchin backstage,Tessa’s two lives collide – and in escaping her inheritance, she finds her destiny. . .

Bibi-Bibi Monster Berkeliaran Mencari Mangsa! jerit tajuk-tajuk utama surat kabar. Kepanikan melanda negeri ketika tiga anak diculik geng bibi. Begitu berita disebarkan, masyarakat melihat wanita-wanita pembunuh di mana-mana. Namun geng bibi dan anak-anak yang mereka culik seolah lenyap ditelan bumi. Sementara itu, di pulau misterius, anak-anak segera menyadari para penculilknya bukanlah kriminal biasa. Bahkan Bibi Etta, Coral, dan Myrtle punya misi rahasia. Anak-anak itu dipilih untuk membantu mereka menjaga Pulau dan semua makhluk luar biasa yang ada di dalamnya. Monster-monster....

The Morning Gift is a beautiful, classic romance from much loved author, Eva Ibbotson. Ruth lives in the beautiful city of Vienna and is wildly in love with Heini Radik, a brilliant young pianist. But her world is about to change forever.When Hitler's forces invade, Ruth's family flees to London, but she is unable to get a passport. Quin, a young professor and friend of the family, visits Ruth and, in an effort to bring her back to London, he offers a marriage of convenience. As Ruth throws herself into her London life, Quin begins to fall desperately in love with her. Things are further complicated by the arrival of Heini . . .

Heckie is a young, kindly witch with a remarkable ability: She can change anything into an animal. So when she meets a boy, Daniel, after graduating from a good witch school, Heckie and her pal set out to eliminate the world of bad people by changing them into critters. After Heckie conjures up a friendly dragon who reacts to evildoers and transforms a nasty nursing home owner into a warthog, she meets a furrier (Lionel Knacksap) who suspiciously asks for her hand in marriage. Unfortunately, Heckie doesn't realize that her fiancé is only out for snow leopard pelts, but she reunites with a long-lost witch friend, and her two buddies -- along with some other witches -- help Heckie get back on a good track.

Award-winning author Eva Ibbotson's tale of a boy and dog who were meant to be together -- now in paperback.All Hal had ever wanted was a dog. "Never!" cries his mother. "Think of the mess, the scratch-marks, the puddles on the floor." But on the morning of Hal's 10th birthday, the unbelievable happens. He's allowed to choose a dog at Easy Pets, a rent-a-pet agency (a fact his parents keep from him). The moment he sees the odd-looking terrier, he knows he's found a friend for life. But no one tells Hal that Fleck must be returned. When Hal wakes up on Monday morning, Fleck is gone. If dog and boy are to stay together they'll have to run away. . . . From the renowned Eva Ibbotson comes a tale laced with humor and brimming over with heart, stunning in its beauty of the love of all things dog.

"Aku menikah! Apa kau gila? Dengan siapa aku akan menikah?" Arriman bergumam merana. Tetapi tentu saja dia tahu. Semua tahu. Hanya ada satu jenis perempuan yang bisa dinikahi penyihir, yaitu penyihir perempuan. Arriman si Angker, Penyihir Utara, perlu istri. Tetapi penyihir perempuan yang mana yang akan dipilih Arriman? Bermacam-macam penyihir perempuan---dari yang keriput berkumis, gemuk dan mendengus seperti babi, kejam, tukang bertengkar, sampai yang kakinya bersisik---ikut dalam kompetisi sihir yang diadakannya. Mabel Wrack, yang setengah-duyung, mengkhususkan diri pada sihir yang ada hubungannya dengan air dan ikan. Mother Bloodwort yang sudah tua menguasai semua mantra di buku (kecuali mantra mengubah-diri-jadi-muda-lagi), dan si kembar Shouter rela saling bunuh asal bisa menang! Kasihan Belladonna, dia tak punya kesempatan. Betapapun kerasnya dia berusaha melakukan sihir hitam, mantranya hanya menghasilkan begonia merah jambu atau keping-keping salju indah, tak pernah ular berbisa ataupun kodok. Namun Belladonna bertekad melakukan sesuatu yang mengerikan dalam kontes, dan dengan bantuan seorang anak yatim-piatu misterius dan seekor cacing bernama Rover, dia mungkin bisa menang. Itu kalau Madame Olympia, enchantress yang memakai kalung untaian gigi manusia, tidak lebih dulu berhasil mendapatkan Arriman.

Tally Hamilton is furious to hear she is being sent from London to a horrid, stuffy boarding school in the countryside. And all because of the stupid war. But Delderton Hall is a far more" "unusual and " interesting" place than Tally ever imagined, and she soon falls in love with its eccentric staff and pupils. Now she's even organizing an exciting school trip to the kingdom of Bergania . . . although Tally never expected to meet the "prince." Prince Karil hates his life at the palace and he is only truly happy when he escapes to the dragonfly pool, a remote spot in the forests of Bergania. Then Karil meets a feisty English girl who brings the promise of adventure. But his country is under threat, and the prince soon looks to his new friend Tally for survival as well as friendship . . .

The ghosts of Britain need a sanctuary. Castles with central heating, bogs drained for motorways, dismal forests cleared for car parks-there are few places left for a respectable ghost to haunt. Humphrey the Horrible (actually his name is simply Humphrey-he added "the Horrible" to help himself become horrible) is a small, mostly unsuccessful ghost in a family of ghastly ghouls. His mother worries. But Humphrey has enough pluck to befriend a smart, politically aware schoolboy, Rick Henderson, who is willing to take the ghosts' cause right to the top, to number 10 Downing Street-home of the Prime Minister.

Humphrey si Mengerikan sama sekali tidak mengerikan. Sebagai anak dari pasangan hantu berkaki buntung, Kilt Melayang, dan Hag yang berbau busuk, Humphrey tidak bisa dibandingkan dengan kedua kakaknya: George, Tengkorak Menjerit, yang bisa menyerukan jeritan menakutkan; ataupun Winifred Meratap yang selalu melayang-layang dengan gaun penuh bercak darah. Petualangan dimulai ketika Humphrey sekeluarga harus meninggalkan Kastil Craggyford, tempat tinggal mereka selama beratus-ratus tahun, karena kastil itu akan dipugar. Namun ternyata keluarga Humphrey bukanlah satu-satunya. Di berbagai tempat, para hantu dan monster Inggris terusir dari rumah mereka sendiri akibat modernisasi. Ide mendirikan suaka hantu pun muncul. Namun suaka yang mereka idam-idamkan ternyata perangkap besar untuk melenyapkan para hantu. Mereka dieksorsis! George mulai meleleh, Kilt Melayang makin pudar, Winifred tergeletak tak berdaya... Humphrey mengerahkan sisa-sisa tenaga untuk mencari bantuan, bila terlambat, keluarga dan teman-temannya akan musnah.

American millionaire Hiram C. Hopgood will stop at nothing to make his daughter, Helen, happy even if it means buying her an ancient Scottish castle and shipping it back to Texas. Assembling the castle isn’t a problem for the oil tycoon... it’s the ghosts that worry him. Hopgood has made up his mind: the ghouls have got to go. But these spirits don’t spook so easily. Instead, they make their way to America, where they meet up with a magical severed hand and three fiendish, cross-dressing kidnappers for a Texas-sized adventure with a ghostly Scottish flair.

The Morning Gift is a beautiful, classic romance from much loved author, Eva Ibbotson. Ruth lives in the beautiful city of Vienna and is wildly in love with Heini Radik, a brilliant young pianist. But her world is about to change forever.When Hitler's forces invade, Ruth's family flees to London, but she is unable to get a passport. Quin, a young professor and friend of the family, visits Ruth and, in an effort to bring her back to London, he offers a marriage of convenience. As Ruth throws herself into her London life, Quin begins to fall desperately in love with her. Things are further complicated by the arrival of Heini . . .

Spring, 1922 Tessa is a beautiful, tiny, dark-eyed princess - who's given up her duties to follow her heart, working for nothing backstage at the Viennese opera. No one there knows who she really is, or that a fairy-tale castle is missing its princess, and Tessa is determined to keep it that way. But secret lives can be complicated, and when a wealthy, handsome Englishman discovers this bewitching urchin backstage, Tessa's two lives collide - and in escaping her inheritance, she finds her destiny. . . Magic Flutes is an enchanting story of love, music and secret princesses from Eva Ibbotson.

Anna, a young countess, has lived in the glittering city of St Petersburg all her life in an ice-blue palace overlooking the River Neva. But when revolution tears Russia apart, her now-penniless family is forced to flee to England. Armed with an out-of-date book on housekeeping, Anna determines to become a housemaid and she finds work at the Earl of Westerholme's crumbling but magnificent mansion. The staff and the family are sure there is something not quite right about their new maid - but she soon wins them over with her warmth and dedication.Then the young Earl returns home from the war - and Anna falls hopelessly in love. But they can never be together: Rupert is engaged to the snobbish and awful Muriel - and anyway, Anna is only a servant. Or so everybody thinks... NOTE: also goes by the name, A Countess Below Stairs.

A forgotten door on an abandoned railway platform is the entrance to a magical kingdom--an island where humans live happily with feys, mermaids, ogres, and other wonderful creatures. Carefully hidden from the world, the Island is only accessible when the door opens for nine days every nine years. A lot can go wrong in nine days. When the beastly Mrs. Trottle kidnaps the prince of the Island, it's up to a strange band of rescuers to save him. But can an ogre, a hag, a wizard, and a fey really troop around London unnoticed?

Di bawah peron salah satu stasiun tersibuk di london ada pintu tua yang penuh di tempeli poster yang sudah mengelupas Kalaupun ada yang melewatinya orang-orang tidak pernah menduga pintu itu jalan masuk menuju suatu kerajaan ajaib.

Annika is happy living in the servants' quarters of a house owned by three eccentric professors. She adores Ellie and Sigrid, the cook and housemaid who found her as a baby, abandoned on a church doorstep. In the eleven years since, they have taught her how to bake and clean to perfection. Then one day a glamorous stranger arrives, claiming to be Annika's mother. Annika is no servant, she learns, but an aristocrat whose true home is an ancient castle. But at crumbling Spittal, Annika discovers that all is not as it seems in the lives of her newfound family. . .

When Arriman the Awful, the handsome wizard of the North, announces a contest to choose his bride, every witch in town is a flutter. The meanest, most powerful witch will wed the wizard. But little Belladonna is dismayed, because as hard as she tries, her spells conjure up begonias and baby birds, and not a single viper or bloodshot eyeball. She just has to do something seriously sinister in time for the contest....

Which Witch?Arriman the Awful, the Wizard of the North, needs a wife, and, naturally, the only woman a wizard can marry is a witch. But which witch will Arriman choose? Warty, wicked, or just plain rude-witches galore enter his spell-casting competition. Poor Belladonna doesn't have a chance. Her spells conjure up pink begonias or ice-cream sundaes, not a single viper or toad. But with the help of a mysterious orphan and a worm named Rover, Belladonna just might do something really sinister.The Secret of Platform 13A forgotten door on an abandoned railway platform is the entrance to a magical kingdom--an island where humans live happily with feys, mermaids, ogres, and other wonderful creatures. Carefully hidden from the world, the Island is only accessible when the door opens for nine days every nine years. A lot can go wrong in nine days. When the beastly Mrs. Trottle kidnaps the prince of the Island, it's up to a strange band of rescuers to save him. But can an ogre, a hag, a wizard, and a fey really troop around London unnoticed?