Best Selling Books by Franny Billingsley

A unique gothic romance with an enticing undercurrent of fairytale and darkness. Perfect for teen girls

Corinna Stonewall is fifteen years old and an orphan. She is also Rhysbridge Foundling Home''s Folk Keeper - a difficult and dangerous job which consists of looking after and controlling ''the Folk'' - spiteful, maverick, savage creatures who live in the cellar and will only be prevented from spoiling the milk, terrifying the livestock and other disruptions by gifts of cream, salt pork and similar luxuries. But there are many questions about Corinna. Who are her parents? Why does her hair grow two inches a night? Why is she always drawn to the sea and long for the sweet taste of fish?

"A coin for passage to your heart''s desire," says Agnes, Guardian of the Wishing Well in the village of Bishop Mayne. "That is the first rule." But Nuria doesn''t think she needs a wish. Wishing on the Well is dangerous. Wishes often go wrong. That''s why there are no other children around. A wish-gone-wrong took them all away. But now, because her grandfather, the Avy, has wished for them to come back, Nuria is sure that the one thing she wants -- a friend her own age -- will soon be there. "One wish each lifetime," says Agnes. "One cycle of the moon to repent and call it back. That is the second rule." Only a fool would make a wish that needs to be called back, Nuria thinks. But that''s before she meets Catty Winter, who cannot walk, whose legs are mysteriously crippled. "Make a wish for me," Catty pleads. And Nuria is tempted. But what if the wish goes wrong? "And for that cycle of the moon your lips are locked in this: To no one may you speak of your wish. To no one but to me, for your wish is my wish too. That is the third rule." Nuria has given little thought to the third rule. But there come moments when she wishes it did not exist. The Wishing Well, she is trickier than anyone has known. The Wishing Well in Bishop Mayne has a mind of its own and creates problems for all who try to use its power. Few have gotten anything but misery from it. Knowing this, however, does not keep Nuria, in a time of dire need, from trying to accomplish what few others have managed. Beauty and greed, warmth and cold, walk hand in hand in this unusual fantasy to create an adventure filled with friendship, challenge, and the magic of love.

Part literary mystery, part magical tour de force—an incantatory novel of fierce beauty, lyricism, and originality from a National Book Award Finalist A brilliant puzzle of a book from the author of Chime and The Folk Keeper plunges us into the vulnerable psyche of one of the most memorable unreliable narrators to grace the page in decades. The Robber Girl has a good dagger. Its voice in her head is as sharp as its two edges that taper down to a point. Today, the Robber Girl and her dagger will ride with Gentleman Jack into the Indigo Heart to claim the gold that’s rightfully his. But instead of gold, the Robber Girl finds a dollhouse cottage with doorknobs the size of apple seeds. She finds two dolls who give her three tasks, even though she knows that three is too many tasks. The right number of tasks is two, like Grandmother gave to Gentleman Jack: Fetch unto me the mountain’s gold, to build our city fair. Fetch unto me the wingless bird, and I shall make you my heir. The Robber Girl finds what might be a home, but to fight is easier than to trust when you’re a mystery even to yourself and you’re torn between loyalty and love. The Robber Girl is at once achingly real—wise to the nuances of trauma—and loaded with magic, action, and intrigue. Every sentence shines, sharp as a blade, in a beautifully crafted novel about memory, identity, and the power of language to heal and reconstruct our lives.

At home, in the Mouse House, Baby Boo-Boo gets no respect. Just look at her name: Baby Boo-Boo. She''s no baby! The word drives her wild in a big, bad way. And here''s Mama Mouse calling, always calling after her, "Baby! Where are you, Baby?" It''s humiliating. Mice (and other small persons) will understand what Big Bad Boo-Boo does. It''s quite naughty.

Há anos, a jovem Briony Larkin esconde alguns segredos... Segredos que comprometeram para sempre a saúde mental de sua irmã gêmea, Rose, e que mataram sua madrasta. Mistérios que a impedem de sair de Swampsea. Consumida pela culpa, Briony só encontra alívio nas profundezas do pântano, cercada pela presença dos Antigos os espíritos que assombram o lugar. O problema é que só as bruxas podem vê-los, e na sua aldeia elas são condenadas à morte. Por isso, ela vive com medo de que seu segredo seja descoberto, mesmo que ela acredite merecer as piores punições por todo o mal que já fez às pessoas que ama. A chegada de Eldric faz sua vida mudar, pois ele representa o que ela sempre desejou ser, tudo aquilo que ela teme sentir. Prender-se à magia ou libertar-se para o amor? Caberá a Briony fazer a decisão mais importante.

Robber Girl doesn''t have a name. Or a home. But she does have a dagger. And she has Gentleman Jack. Together, they are wild.Gentleman Jack has two tasks and he needs Robber Girl with him to complete them. But when a heist to steal back Gentleman Jack''s gold goes wrong, Robber Girl is trapped. Instead of sleeping out in the ravine with cliffs and caves and a river, she must stay in a cottage with keys and doorknobs and a dollhouse. A cottage that threatens to tame her.Robber Girl waits for the right moment to start her new task: she will break Gentleman Jack out of jail. But the longer Robber Girl waits, the more the cottage starts to feel like home. Torn between loyalty to Gentleman Jack and the family who have taken her in, between fighting and trusting, between being wild and being tame, Robber Girl must unravel who she was and who she is now. But when you''re a mystery even to yourself, discovering who you are might be the hardest task of them all.Part Western fantasy, part literary mystery and wholly unputdownable, A Murmuration of Starlings is loaded with magic, action, and intrigue, and features a character who will stay with you long after the final page.

À l''orphelinat de Rhysbridge, Corinna Stonewall est le Gardien des Créatures. Dans le monde reclus de la cave, elle nourrit et apaise les monstres invisibles afin de protéger récoltes et bétail. Mais pourquoi les cheveux de Corinna poussent-ils de cinq centimètres chaque nuit ? Comment expliquer son incorrigible maladresse ? Et qu''en est-il de cette inexplicable horloge interne qui rythme ses jours et ses nuits ? Lorsqu''elle rejoint Cliffsend et son gigantesque domaine pour veiller sur la cave et ses Créatures déchaînées, la jeune fille ignore encore qu''elle entame une longue quête souterraine de la vérité...

Briony Larkin a 17 ans et elle a un secret. Un secret qui serait à l’origine de la mort de sa belle-mère, un secret qui aurait rendu sa soeur jumelle, Rose, simple d’esprit, un secret qui est une menace pour tous les habitants du Swampsea. Briony a le don de seconde vue, qui la relie au monde des Esprits, et en tant que telle elle risque d’être pendue, car c’est là le sort que l’on réserve aux sorcières. Alors Briony se tait et étouffe sa nature profonde...C’est sans compter sur l’arrivée du XXe siècle, incarné par l’ingénieur Clayborne et son fils, Eldric, dans cette région sauvage du sud de l’Angleterre... Avec eux vient le progrès et l’assèchement du marais, qui déchaînera la fureur du seigneur des marécages. Si elle veut sauver sa soeur d’une mort certaine, Briony va devoir faire face à ses anciens démons ainsi qu’à l’indéniable attraction qu’elle ressent pour Eldric...