• Age: 12 to 15
• Grade: 7 to 10
• Reading age: 12 to 15

Mountains, travel, adventure Amelia Hammer wants it all. Instead, her globe-trotting parents have dumped her in tiny, boring Dunstone, Ontario, in the middle of winter with her grandmother and her geeky cousin Simon. Simon isn’t having much fun either, saddled with a sulky stranger in black leather and with neon hair.And he has to be nice to her.

But life in safe little Dunstone turns dangerously exciting when Mara comes to town. Amelia is enchanted by this tall, proud, fearless girl, but Simon worries that Mara might be mixed up in something weird. Hes right. Mara is not what she seems, and neither is the shape-shifting assassin whos tracking her. When the cousins take Mara’s side in a war for an alien world, Amelia has to spread her wings literally and Simon must find out how far he will go to save a cousin who has become a friend.

Patricia Bow is the author of The Bone Flute (Orca, 2004), a fantasy novel for young people that was nominated for the Silver Birch and Red Cedar awards. Her other published books include The Spiral Maze (Thistledown Press, 1997), also a fantasy novel for kids, and Chimpanzee Rescue (Firefly Books, 2004), a non-fiction book that was chosen as an Honor Book by the American Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. The Ruby Kingdom (Dundurn), the first book in a series, is due out in February 2007.
Patricia has been reading ever since the local library opened its magic doors for her and writing since she was old enough to hold a crayon. She uses a computer now instead of a crayon, but the thrill of the story hasn't changed. She writes what she loves to read: fiction with a strong flavour of the strange and mysterious, anchored by down-to-earth heroes.
Over the years she has worked as a librarian, a press reader for a clipping service, and a reporter at a small-town newspaper. Now she works in communications at the University of Waterloo. By day she writes serious prose; by night she maps new worlds of the imagination.
Patricia Bow lives in Kitchener, Ontario with her husband Eric and a small but fierce grey tabby named Pooka. She is a member of CANSCAIP (the Canadian Society of Children's Authors, Illustrators and Performers).
Email: pabow@gto.net
Website: http://home.golden.net/~thebows/patricia.htm

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"The dialogue was realistic and the book was very well written. The plot was gripping and very exciting to see it unfold with a big surprise reveal towards the end I thoroughly enjoyed this tale of fantasy, magic and other world."

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"The Ruby Kingdom gets high marks from me ... It completely enchanted me, and kept me wondering what would happen next in the magical and perilous worlds."