Pages & Co.: The Book Smugglers Hardcover – December 14, 2021 by Anna James

Description

Author: James Anna

Color: Teal/Turquoise green

Package Dimensions: 21x210x467

Number Of Pages: 336

Release Date: 14-12-2021

Details: Product Description

“Mr. Lemoncello would love to go bookwandering at Pages and Co. If you love books, you’re going to LOVE this book!”–Chris Grabenstein, #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Mr. Lemoncello series The fourth magical adventure in the nationally bestselling Pages & Co. series, starring Milo, the book smuggler. Perfect for fans of Inkheart and The Land of Stories.

Since he was six years old, Milo has lived on board the Sesquipedalian, or “Quip,” a magical train that uses the power of imagination to travel through both stories and the real world. Aboard the Quip, Milo lives and works with his uncle, Horatio, a book smuggler who trades in rare books.

When Horatio takes on a dangerous new job, he needs the help of Tilly Pages, a uniquely gifted bookwanderer. But when Tilly’s grandfather and Horatio are poisoned by a mysterious copy of
The Wizard of Oz and fall into a deep sleep, Milo and Tilly find themselves racing against time to save them. The friends must journey to the Emerald City with Dorothy, and eventually to Venice, Italy, to find out who is behind these strange poisonings.

Praise for
Pages & Co.: The Bookwanderers
:

A
USA Today Bestseller!
A Barnes & Noble Book of the Month!
A Fall 2019 Kids’ Indie Next List Pick!

“A loving testament to the powerful magic of books and imagination.” —
Kirkus Reviews

“An affectionate ode to books and book lovers.” —
Publishers Weekly

“A thrilling, inventive, book-lover’s delight.”–
Matt Haig, author of The Midnight Library

“Delightful! A Joy of a book.”–
Kiran Millwood Hargrave, author of
The Girl of Ink & Stars

About the Author

Anna James is a writer and journalist. She was a school librarian before joining
The Bookseller as their book news editor. She now writes for a variety of newspapers and magazines, and chairs events at bookshops and literary festivals across the UK. She lives in north London, in a flat full of books.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Prologue

The book arrived at Pages & Co. wrapped in brown paper and string. It was addressed to Archibald Pages and covered in a colorful array of mismatched stamps. Archibald’s granddaughter, Tilly, had picked up the bundle of post that morning and brought it through from the bookshop the Pages owned to their private family kitchen. Archie didn’t notice it until the shop had closed its doors and he was sitting with a cup of tea, sorting through the stack of bills, letters, and books sent from publishers.

“What’s this then?” he asked, turn­ing the package over in his hands. It had been wrapped very precisely, with the brown paper in sharp creases, only a little tattered from its journey.

“It was just in with the post,” Tilly said. “Are you expecting something exciting?”

“Not that I can remember,” Archie replied. “Although this does
look rather exciting, doesn’t it? The stamps would seem to suggest it’s from . . . Italy, I think? How curious.” He took out his penknife and neatly sliced through the tape at one end, peeling back the paper with the satisfying crinkling noise that comes from brown paper in particular. Archie pulled out a hardback book that was rather worse for wear—its dark-green cloth cover was frayed at the edges, and several of the pages were visi­bly ripped and stained. On its spine, in faded gilt lettering, was the book’s title,
Il mer­aviglioso mago di Oz, and its author, L. Frank Baum.

“An Italian edition of
The Wizard of Oz,” Archie said appreciatively, stroking the edges of the pages in admiration. “I was right about the stamps. But I don’t think we know anyone in Italy—do we, Elsie?”

He directed this last question to his wife, Tilly’s grandma, as she entered the kitchen.

“I don’t think so,” she said. ’Is that something you’ve ordered online and forgotten about again?”

“Not this time,” Archie grinned.

“Did it come with a note?” Tilly asked.

“Good thinking,” Archie said, opening the cover to reveal a small rectangular ca