Jennifer A Nielsen

In the country of Carthya, a devious nobleman engages four orphans in a brutal competition to be selected to impersonate the king's long-missing son in an effort to avoid a civil war.

Young King Jaron has had nothing but trouble with his advisors and regents since he ascended the throne of Carthya, and now King Vargan of Avenia has invaded the land and captured Imogen--and Jaron must find some way to rescue her and save his kingdom.

When Nic, a slave in the mines outside of Rome, is forced to enter a sealed cavern containing lost treasures of Julius Caesar, he finds himself in possession of an ancient amulet filled with magic once reserved for the Gods, and becomes the center of a conspiracy to overthrow the emperor and destroy Rome.

In 1893 twelve-year-old Audra lives on a farm in Lithuania, and tries to avoid the Cossack soldiers who enforce the Russian decrees that ban Lithuanian books, religion, culture, and even the language; but when the soldiers invade the farm Audra is the only one who escapes and, unsure of what has happened to her parents, she embarks on a dangerous journey, carrying the smuggled Lithuanian books that fuel the growing resistance movement, unsure of who...

After three years in exile Kestra Dallisor has been summoned back to Antora by her father, right-hand man of the seemingly immortal king, Lord Endrick, but she is intercepted and kidnapped by the Coracks who want to use her to get the Olden Blade, which they believe can be used to kill the despot-- Simon, one of the rebels with his own grudge against the Dallisors, is assigned to accompany her, but Kestra has her own plans and she does not intend...

When King Jaron returned to Carthya he brought with him a device that supposedly shows the way to a great treasure, but now everything is going wrong: Castor, the son of an old enemy, is conspiring against him and wants the throne for himself, his fiancée, Imogen, seems to have turned against him, and the Prozarian Monarch has invaded his kingdom and taken Jaron's castle-- but Jaron has a lot of experience at hiding and escaping, and he is not willing...

From the assassination that triggers World War I in 1914 to Armistice Day in 1918, the story follows the fates of five young people on both sides of the conflict--each facing their portion of the war with courage, until the end of the war brings them together. Includes information on the history of the war.

The battle for control of Antora continues, and Simon and Kestra have been forced apart; Kestra is a prisoner in the cursed All Spirits Forest where Loelle wants her to use her growing power to heal the land and bring it back to life, while Simon has been made king of the Halderians, but is surrounded by men whose loyalty is uncertain and who fear his connection to Kestra of the hated Dallisor family, and the evil Lord Endrick.

Now firmly on the side of the Coracks, sixteen-year-old Kestra Dallisor plans to use the magic Olden Blade to kill the evil Lord Endrick, but when she fails, Endrick turns her into one of his Ironheart soldiers, without any memory of her rebellion, and bound to obey him, his spy within the Coracks; the rebel Simon is desperate to return her to the Kestra he loves, but he is reluctant to use the magic that might heal (or destroy) her-- and neither...

Twelve-year-old Lidia's life is forever changed by the Nazi occupation of Poland, leading her to join the resistance movement to fight against the Nazis and aid Jewish people in the Warsaw Ghetto during WWII.