Ozland

by Wendy Spinale

  To my Scholastic marketing and publicity team, Rachel Feld and Brooke Shearouse, thank you for getting the word out about the series. Without you, I’d have a lot of pretty books, but no one to share them with.

  Christopher Stengel, my unbelievably talented designer and art director extraordinaire, I might be biased, but I’ve never seen a series with such beautiful cover art. I cannot convey how fortunate I am to have had your talents.

  And of course, many thanks to those at Scholastic that continue to provide ongoing support, including David Levithan, Tracy van Straaten, Lizette Serrano, and everyone else behind the scenes. Also, I must send love out to Lori Benton, John Pels, and Paul Gagne, who handle all things audio books.

  To the other residents of Scholastic-land, you seriously deserve a standing ovation. I applaud you for all of your hard work in making the Everland series happen. Thank you to the sales team, including Elizabeth Whiting, Alexis Lunsford, Annette Hughes, Chris Satterlund, Betsy Politi, Jackie Ruben, Jody Stigliano, Meaghan Hilton, Sue Flynn, Nikki Mutch, Charlie Young, and Roz Hilden.

  Special thanks to the original storytellers: J. M. Barrie, Lewis Carroll, and L. Frank Baum. Because of your imaginations and the fantastical worlds you created, you made my childhood richer. I hope the Everland series makes you proud.

  Finally, to the readers who had the courage, the heart, and the mind to lose themselves in my wild, fun world—thank you. Life is full of surprises. I’ve certainly discovered that over the making of this series. Never ever give up on your dreams, fervently follow your heart, and be stubbornly courageous. Whether we have crossed paths or not, I believe in you.

  Wendy Spinale is a former character actor for the Disneyland theme park (so she is very familiar with the world of make-believe). She is the author of Everland and its follow-up, Umberland, as well as Lost Boy, a prequel novella to Everland.

  Wendy lives with her family in the San Francisco Bay Area.

  Also by

  WENDY SPINALE

  EVERLAND

  UMBERLAND

  LOST BOY

  (a prequel novella to Everland)

  Copyright © 2018 by Wendy Spinale

  All rights reserved. Published by Scholastic Press, an imprint of Scholastic Inc., Publishers since 1920. SCHOLASTIC, SCHOLASTIC PRESS, and associated logos are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Scholastic Inc.

  The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data available

  First edition, May 2018

  Cover design by Christopher Stengel

  Cover art © 2018 by Mike Heath | Magnus Creative

  e-ISBN 978-0-545-95324-5

  All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. No part of this publication may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without the express written permission of the publisher. For information regarding permission, write to Scholastic Inc., Attention: Permissions Department, 557 Broadway, New York, NY 10012.