King of Things — John F.D. Taff

The Beginning of an Epic YA Fantasy! Orphaned by the death of their parents, Maddie and Wil are sent to live with their aunt, a respected college professor with no experience raising children. Largely left to themselves, they find a portal in her house-a door through an ordinary washing machine that leads to Loss, a strange world where all of the things lost in our world go to-keys, umbrellas, socks, loose change.even people. Wil and Maddie find themselves thrust into an enchanting world, where literal mountains of laundry and eyeglasses loom over exotic cities such as Marketown. At first all they want is to simply get home-back to their aunt's house. But a desperate idea comes to Wil-when people die in our world, we say we've lost them. If so, perhaps he and his sister might be able to find their dead parents here and bring them home. The only person who can help, though, is the King of Loss, and he sees no one. They're helped on their journey by Bob, a 7-foot-tall robot; a talking dog called Usher; and Cooper, a tight-mouthed, intimidating guide who parachuted into this world after highjacking an airplane in his. Along the way, they meet Ambrose Bierce and a certain hip-swiveling King who might be dead in our world or not. . But they're also being chased by minions of The Judge, the shadowy power behind the throne... a man who was lost from their world before they were born; Judge Joseph F. Crater. He's gained a lot of power here in Loss, and he knows something about Maddie.something that makes her important in this world. And he can't afford for these two kids to gain an audience with the King of Loss. In the spirit of The Wizard of Oz and The Hobbit, King of Things begins anexciting and magical journey through a land unlike any other that will continue in The Shadow of the World and finish in The Ends of the Earth. John F.D. Taff is the author of seven novels and dozens of short stories. His horror novel, The Rat Catcher's King, published by Double Dragon, was the finalist in the horror category of the 2006 Eppie Awards.