Anomalies 53: Into the Shadows

It’s one thing to leave the world behind; it’s another thing when you can never return. 

Next door to the notorious Area 51 sits Area 53, the underground lab where the government secretly holds “the anomalies.” These are the Earth-born mythical and magical creatures—fairies, wyverns, manticores, and more—that have been captured and brought in for careful study. It’s also where eleven-year-old Ollie Robles and his best (and only) friend, Garen Jackson, the kids of Area 53’s lead researchers, have grown up. They’ve lived safely within these cement-and-steel halls their whole lives . . . that is, until the day that Ollie and Garen accidentally free six anomalies: two sprites, a wyvern, a baby manticore, a llamacorn, and a golem named Henry. Now it’s up to Ollie and Garen to chase down the anomalies and bring them back home. 

It’s a daring, high-stakes adventure into a world full of magical creatures, dark corners, and surprising revelations as told in the way only Pura Belpré Honor–winning author and master storyteller Angela Cervantes can.

But what happens when the kids raised in a secret lab discover they’re the biggest secret of all?

• Best Friends Adventure: Ollie and Garen have always been each other’s only friends. Now, they’ll have to rely on their unbreakable bond to survive a world of government secrets and escaped magical creatures.
• Mythical Creatures Unleashed: From a mischievous baby manticore and a wise wyvern to a loyal golem named Henry, a whole menagerie of anomalies has just escaped—and it’s all their fault.
• A Perilous Portal Fantasy: The chase leads them out of Area 53 and through a shadow portal into Shadowland, the magical home of the anomalies and a place more dangerous and amazing than they ever imagined.
• Secret Identity: As they face down goblin armies and angry ogres, Ollie and Garen discover the truth about their past and why they are the key to saving both worlds from destruction.