The Ancient Realm

Agnes Adelaide Fordyce, an ordinary eleven-year-old girl, finds her life plunged into adventure one cold fall evening when a mysterious new babysitter named Octavia comes to visit. Her life in Blue Rocks Harbour, Nova Scotia, once filled with tedious chores from her German Nanny and teasing from her older twin brothers, is changed forever when she is introduced to the Ancient Realm, a secret society of Guardians who protect the precious natural resources of planet Earth. The first book in a new fantasy series by Sarah Leith Bahn, The Ancient Realm combines a look at the beauty of our planet with timely concerns about our global ecosystems. Above all, we are taken on a magical adventure, from the shores of Nova Scotia, to the heights of the Himalayas, to the islands of the Indian Ocean, where we learn about the mystery and power of the natural world around us. Through Octavia, Agnes also learns about herself, and how important it is for each of us to dream, to appreciate the world around us, to fight for what we care about . . . and to believe.Reviews“Sure to capture the imagination of middle-school readers.” — Marie Brown, President and CEO of Brown Publishing Network“A bored girl and a misled boy are pitted against each other in a fearsome world of tempestuous waters, wicked cold, and cruel fires; nature’s powers must be harnessed by a dogged eleven-year-old fisherman’s daughter, Agnes, in order to unveil the spectacular beauty and hope that lives within both nature and humankind. Bahn’s poetic and emphatic prose makes this imaginary and exciting epic a literary accomplishment.” — Susie Weber, English Teacher and Writer, www.thewritinglab.weebly.com “Ms. Bahn’s book is a fabulous, engaging story for young people and adults alike. Readers will revel in Agnes’s courage as she discovers her own inner strength and battles to save the natural world. I will most definitely share this book with my class of third, fourth, and fifth graders and am looking forward to more from Ms. Bahn in the near future.”— Victoria Hubler, Oregon Public School Teacher, Corbett Schools