Jack Zulu and the Waylander’s Key is an enchanting adventure in the tradition of Tolkien and Lewis, as well as Spielberg and Lucas. But this fantastical journey launches in rural West Virginia in the eighties, with a half-Appalachian, half-African kid trying to escape the town he sees defining his small, sad life. Jack discovers a gate hiding a city between twelve realms, and finds out where he truly belongs in a surprising, satisfying adventure.

Other Titles by Author:

S.D. Smith is the best husband Gina Smith has so far had and father to four Smithereens who are still young enough to appreciate what passes for his wit and wisdom. Sam is a West Virginia native, a sometime sojourner in southern Africa and the Caribbean, and current resident of his house.

J.C. Smith is a sixteen-year old student, author, screenwriter, musician, and visual artist. When he’s not creating and collaborating on stories, Josiah enjoys soccer, music, and the study and practice of filmmaking. He lives in Grandview, West Virginia, with his parents and three siblings.

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Titles by Patricia St. John

Where the River Begins
Treasures of the Snow
Twice Freed
The Victor
The Tanglewood’s Secret
The Other Kitten
The Mystery of Pheasant Cottage 
Rainbow Garden
Nothing Else Matters
In Her Words
I Needed a Neighbour
Friska My Friend

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Into the Darkness
The Darkness Deepens
Dawn’s Early Light
A New Day

Journey Through the Night, All Four Stories

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Companion Books in Series:

The Secret of the Swamp King
The Way of the Wilderking

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There are three storylines within this series. The main storyline includes The Green Ember, Ember Falls, Ember Rising, and Ember’s End. Readers follow Heather and Picket as they join the fight to save their world.

The Tales of Old Natalia is a prequel series and includes The Black Star of Kingston, The Wreck and Rise of Whitson Mariner, and Prince Lander and the Dragon War (ships mid-April 2022).

The third storyline, the Green Ember Archer series, is set during the main one but is written from Jo Shanks’ perspective. It includes The Last Archer, The First Fowler, and The Archer’s Cup.

There is a suggested reading order but there are other combinations that work too.

About S. D. Smith:

S.D. Smith is the best husband Gina Smith has so far had and father to four Smithereens who are still young enough to appreciate what passes for his wit and wisdom. Sam is a West Virginia native, a sometime sojourner in southern Africa and the Caribbean, and current resident of his house.

Sam is an award-losing author, having featured as a runner-up for the West Virginia Fiction Award, World Magazine’s Children’s Book of the Year, and Audible’s Kids Audiobook of the Year. He has also lost every other literary award ever given over the entire course of human history. 

Sam is a co-founder of Story Warren, a site for parents and others dedicated to helping foster holy imagination in children. He is passionate about Kindling Imagination for Kingdom Anticipation, about how stories and play can train us for a richer faith and more intentional lives.

About The Green Ember:

• Finalist for Audible’s Kid’s Book of the Year
• Spent days as #1 bestselling overall audiobook in the world on Audible
• Persistently Amazon’s #1 Bestseller in multiple categories in multiple formats (print, ebook, audio)
• Achieved Top 100 Author Rank on Amazon (highest at #51 overall)
• Spent days as #1 Bestselling Kid’s Audiobook in the World on Audible, topping Harry Potter
• Finalist for Children’s Book of the Year in World Magazine

Praise for The Green Ember:

“A captivating story with sword-bearing rabbits, daring quests, and moments of poignant beauty, The Green Ember is a tale that will delight and inspire young readers to courage and creativity and would make a perfect book for a family to read aloud.” -Sarah Clarkson, author of Read for the Heart and Caught Up in a Story

Kidview
by Michael Silver

The Green Ember by S. D. Smith tells about some of the adventures of two brave rabbits named Heather and Picket. In this book, they are forced to leave their home in Nick Hollow and go to a place called Cloud Mountain. They have many adventures with their uncle and cousin. The Green Ember shows that even if people in your family have done wrong things, you can still do what is right, and that doing the right thing is worth it.

Heather and Picket live in Nick Hollow with their parents and baby brother, Jacks. One day, Heather and Picket go out to pick berries. When they come back, they find their house on fire and surrounded by wolves! They are spotted by the wolves and chased. When the wolves are very close, two rabbits appear and help Heather and Picket escape. They make their way to Cloud Mountain where they make some new friends. Heather and Picket also start finding answers to their questions like, “Why does no one trust us?” “Who is this good king that we keep hearing about?” Not long after another attack by wolves, Heather and Picket find themselves off on another adventure to save a friend.

Two things I learned while reading this book were that helping others is worth the work, and that being loyal to your friends is a good quality. The author made it easy to imagine the characters, how they were feeling, and what their surroundings looked like. I also enjoyed that the main characters set a good example for the reader. If you like good characters, action, friends who are faithful to each other, and clear, descriptive pictures, you would enjoy reading this book.

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Both woman had been sent to the camp for helping the Jews. Christ’s Spirit and words were their guide; it was His persecuted people they tried to save—at the risk of their own lives; it was His strength that sustained them through times of profound horror.

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After being declared a “wolf’s head” by his manor’s corrupt steward for a crime he didn’t commit (meaning that anyone can kill him like a common animal–and collect a reward), this timid boy has to flee a tiny village that’s the only world he’s ever known.

But before our protagonist escapes, Avi makes sure that we’re thoroughly briefed on the injustices of feudalism–the countless taxes cottars must pay, the constant violence, the inability of a flawed church to protect its parishioners, etc.

Avi then folds in the book’s central mystery just as the boy is leaving: “Asta’s son,” as he’s always been known, learns from the village priest that his Christian name is Crispin, and that his parents’ origins–and fates–might be more perplexing than he ever imagined.

Winner of the 2003 Newbery Medal.

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