September 2014 Debut of the Month An unexpected present, a very old book with unusual powers and a twelve-year-old with an inquisitive mind are at the heart of this exciting adventure. When Archie Greene is given a dusty old book and an instruction to visit an obscure bookshop in Oxford he soon finds he has been chosen as the apprentice to a book binder in the Museum of Magical Miscellany. Here Archie finds enchanted bookshelves, spell-weaving librarians and, above all, his own powers as a book whisperer. But there are also evil forces at work and Archie needs all his skills – human and magical – to get everyone out of trouble.
Archie Greene receives a mysterious present on his birthday. Deep within an ancient wooden box he finds an old book, written in a language he doesn't recognise. With the book comes a Summoning - Archie must travel to Oxford to return the book to the Secret Library. Soon Archie will meet family that he never knew he had, and discover the world of the Book People - a community devoted to finding and preserving magical books. But the magical book under Archie's protection is dangerous, and dark spirits hunt it out. With the help of his cousins Archie must do everything he can to uncover the book's hidden powers and save the Book People from evil. Welcome to a wonderful, magical world where bookshelves are enchanted, librarians are sorcerers and spells come to life.
D. D. Everest is a successful business journalist and author who has written a number of adult non-fiction books. Archie Greene and the Magician's Secret is his first book for children. Des lives with his family in a rambling Victorian house on the Ashdown Forest.