When their mother moves them from Victorian England to a small town in America, the teen girls are miserable.
But then weird things start to happen…
Brenna notices that her connection to water seems more powerful. And is she just imagining that giant frog following her around?
When the girls meet another set of twins at their school—Dimitri and Wyndham—their world changes forever and they are thrust into an adventure they never asked for. Long-held secrets reveal themselves as the girls and their new friends start asking questions.
Why are they so connected to the elements? Why won’t these animals leave them alone?
Ultimately, they realize they must work together to confront a growing evil because they are the only ones powerful enough to stop it…
In this first novel from young multiple-award-winning author Ora Wanders, four brave young teenagers, along with their magical pets, combine to harness the forces of nature and use their newfound powers to confront the sinister something that has been lurking in their sleepy town, waiting for the moment the children finally discover what has been inside them all along. Will their new abilities save them or make them easy targets?
And here they thought their new town was boring…
Children of the A Steampunk Adventure is the first of four books in this action-packed middle-grade fantasy series that features elemental magic, portals to other worlds, and adventurous magical teens—all in a steampunk setting. If you liked The Chronicles of Narnia, Percy Jackson and the Olympians, The Unwanteds, or Wings of Fire, you’ll love this new elemental adventure!
Explore Children of the Elements to discover their magical secrets today!
Ora Wanders completed this book at nine years old and became a published author at the age of ten. As an avid reader, her love of fantasy and adventure books like Harry Potter and The Land of Stories inspired her to pen this series. This is her debut novel.
The story starts with Brenna Devin and Adara Devin, twins who are living with their single mother in England. Their entire childhood they have read a special book called the Elemental Grimoire, which according to their mother Acana is a classic.
But none of the other few children whom the twins have played with have heard about it.
All of a sudden, their mother moves them to Worthington in Massachusetts.
Here they go to a new school and learn with Mister Moriarity and there they meet another set of boys - Dmitri and Wyndham - twins, who more or less share the same story as Adara and Brenna - just that they are brought up by their single father.
In the new city, each of the twins meets an animal which they adopt as a pet - a frog, an iguana, an owl and a rat.
The four of them get in a fight and as a punishment, they have to clean the mechanical contraptions of Mister Moriarity. There they see an old unused well at MIster Moriarity's house which starts the fantasy element of the story.
Discovering their connection with the elements and their own magical powers, they find out about Father Earth, Father Air, Mother Fire and Mother Water.
They discover the secrets about the pets and that there are two parts of the Elemental Grimoire book which lets them understand their powers and its control better.
They discover about the other realms and their travels there too lets them understand more facts about themselves and how they had ended up where they had.
The connection of the names of the main characters to ancient languages was a nice touch and I liked that.
Enjoyable children's adventure with vivid descriptive powers and simple and excellent narration. A very good read.
My name is Ellie and I'm 12. This book definitely caught my attention right from the beginning with the way the story started with a bang and just kept moving right along. Mid-way through the book I actually started screaming in excitement over the story line. No joke. My brother ran to my room and asked if I was okay and if I needed help. My favorite part of the story is when the characters discovered their elemental powers. I can't wait for the next book. Hurry!!! Hurry!!!
What?! The author is only TEN years old? As an English teacher of seventh through twelfth grades, I am more than impressed! I can barely get students to write a four page essay much less a three hundred page book! Holy Wow! Where can I clone her?
Seriously, this is a great book! Let's forget for a moment that the author is so young. That in itself is amazing, but the book stands on its own merit. The details and vivid descriptions put the reader right there in Miss Wanders' world. Her characters are well-developed and each has their own unique personality traits. This grand adventure is interwoven with a story within a story, complete with good vs. evil, and a little education about the elements mixed in for good measure.
Kids and adults alike will be enthralled. I expect to see the name Ora Wanders on the New York Times Best Seller list one day! This is definitely an author with a bright future!
Such a lovely book to come from such a young author. She has thought of every loophole and has an explanation for everything. Reminds me of captain planet, a series we used to watch as kids. But this time, with a twist. Can't wait for book 2
Children of the Elements was a stirring novel for me. The way the author (not even in her teens upon writing this fabulous book) brought together the storyline and each of its main characters was done with incredible proficiency. The writing was crisp and exciting, and I felt myself traveling through the “Crystal Vortex” and riding upon “Mr. Devin’s motorcycle”—in the steampunk sense. I felt the blending of fantasy and science were delightfully accomplished; each of the Earth’s Elements utilized by the book’s characters. I especially felt the heart-warming conclusion to the story upon the children learning the true identity of their parents and the reasonings behind their division at birth, as well as the special book both pairs of siblings possessed. With talents such as the ones Ms. Wanders possesses, I feel that someday this young lady will be world renowned for her writing abilities, rivaling perhaps even those of Tolkien and Rowling.
The fact that a 10-year-old wrote this book is phenomenal. I guess it helps when your mom owns an editing company, but still. I loved the storyline, and the main character was adorable and very likable.
I hope to see the rest of the books in this series come to fruition eventually.
Although there are four main characters, the story follows one in particular, so I assume the other books in the series will follow the other three characters one at a time.
The kids are fun and believable, there are some fun steam punk elements in there, and their familiars were extremely entertaining.
I also loved the fantasy aspect that when they went through the portal, the familiars transformed into other beings as well. An interesting concept I haven’t seen done before.
Aside from the extremely unique elements, the tropes were followed very well. This author is definitely an avid fantasy reader and I can’t wait to see where else she goes!
I liked the kids in this book, the originality of their magic, and the way they have to learn to get along and work together.
I would have liked a bit more of a historical feel to the setting--the steampunk elements felt forced in a world that seemed to have modern sensibilities. (And the mention of a nuclear bomb seemed particularly jarring)
Still this was a fun read, and I would recommend it for fantasy lovers on the younger end of the YA age range.
I really like this story. It's whimsical and unique. The writing style is musical. I would have liked to see a but more showing than telling in the dialog and such, but I understand when world building on this scale it can be difficult. I really like it! Good job.
This book is so well-written that it was hard to believe that it was written by a nine-year-old. I especially love the dialogue, and the plot is packed with lots of action. I can’t wait to read the next one! I highly recommend it to middle schoolers and older readers.
I found this book a wonderful read! I'd highly recommend it to anyone, especially children who want to increase their reading level while reading a highly entertaining book! Very imaginative. Can't wait for book two!