Majestica — Sarah Tolcser

Impossible Creatures meets Jurassic Park in this page-turning middle grade fantasy adventure set at a nature preserve for magical beasts, where two girls find themselves on a wilderness expedition gone disastrously wrong.

Hattie Swift grew up at Majestica, a resort and nature preserve where visitors come face-to-face with unicorns, three-headed tigers, and even the park's famous dragon, Agatha. But Hattie's never gotten the chance to go on the hotel's famous wilderness train excursion and see the animals up close, until now. The only catch: She has to chaperone Evelyn Ridgewell, the hotel owner's haughty niece, who doesn't want to be escorted by anyone, least of all a lowly maid-in-training like Hattie.

Soon after they set out, things get even more complicated: Evelyn overhears some men on the train who aim to hunt the park's creatures for sport, and Hattie stumbles into Jacob Threadborne, an apprentice magician sent by a foreign government on a top-secret investigation. Then the train breaks down in the most treacherous part of the jungle, and the magical fences keeping guests safe from the animals -- including fearsome Agatha -- stop working. Faced with poachers, man-eating trees, and a dragon on the loose, Hattie, Evelyn, and Jacob must stick together to figure out what's gone wrong at Majestica . . . that is, if they want to make it out alive.

Features a richly illustrated map of the expansive nature preserve, as well as a bestiary with all the magical -- and dangerous -- creatures at Majestica.