The Secrets of the Pied Piper 2: The Magician's Key

Book excerpt: The second book in the trilogy bestselling author Adam Gidwitz called “epic” and “a wild fantasy adventure” finds siblings Max and Carter and their allies battling new foes, relying on new friends, and fighting for stakes higher than ever! After narrowly escaping the Pied Piper at the end of The Peddler’s Road, Max and Carter have been separated. Max has returned to the real world and will stop at nothing to find her way back to her brother on the Summer Isle. The only way to return is with a mysterious key, controlled by the dastardly wizard Vodnik, who is holding the souls of Max and Carter’s parents hostage. Meanwhile, Carter has been separated from his friends and is left with a very untrustworthy companion: the Pied Piper himself! Along the way, Max and Carter are joined by a bashful trollson, a daring elf, a seafaring hobgoblin, and the ever-loyal kobold Bandybulb. As their paths converge, they prepare for the most important quests yet: save their parents and send the children of New Hamelin home to their own place and time! Praise for The Secrets of the Pied Piper 1: The Peddler’s Road: “The Peddler’s Road begins as a creepy fairy tale–mystery and then explodes into a wild fantasy adventure. . . . Cody has begun what promises to be an epic trilogy.” —Adam Gidwitz, New York Times bestselling author of A Tale Dark and Grimm and The Inquisitor’s Tale “Prepare to be enchanted. Like the Pied Piper of Hamelin, Cody spins a wildly inventive, deeply heartfelt tale that whisks you off to a magical land where fairy tales live and breathe—and frequently try to kill you. From the first page, I was a goner.” —John Stephens, New York Times bestselling author of The Emerald Atlas