As Greg Heffley is getting ready for middle school, he is teased by his older brother Rodrick Heffley because his mom, Susan Heffley, bought him supplies for school, including a blank red diary,instead of his mom buying him a journal like he asked her to. He has a little brother, Manny who is "spoiled rotten" because he gets everything he wants and also gets away with everything he does wrong, unlike Greg, who gets in trouble for everything he does wrong. His father Frank Heffley does not encourage Greg''s way of life - playing video games all day - rather than going outside and playing sports. Greg, during the first day of school, is immediately rejected and is forced to sit with another outcast who lives near Greg, Fregley, from whom Greg tries to keep "a safe distance". He is initially unsure of Rowley Jefferson being able to fit in, and tries to change Rowley, who Greg considers immature. Greg and Rowley decide to participate in wrestling at school, although Greg quits after losing a match against Fregley. On Halloween, Greg and Rowley go trick-or-treating, but are challenged by there of teens who they irritate and enrage and spray them with a fire extinger. The two friends barely escape to safety so they decide to go and stay in Gregs grandmother''s house until the teens leave them alone. After getting few presents for Christmas, Greg decides to play a game with Rowley in which Rowley must ride a Big Wheel while Greg tries to knock him off. On one of Greg''s tries, the ball gets under the front wheel, which causes Rowley to fall off and break his arm. The next day, a bunch of girls crowd around Rowley so they could feed him. Greg and Rowley decide to enroll in the Safety program in which they walk younger kids to their homes. One day, as Greg is walking the kids by himself,he chases the young children, only after scaring them with a stick with worms on it. A neighbor contacts the school and tells them about Greg''s unusual behavior. The principal suspects Rowley, as Greg was wearing Rowley''s coat. Rowley is quickly fired. Greg initially wants to tell him it is his fault that he was fired, but doesn''t, only to let the truth slip later. This leads to Rowley breaking off his friendship with Greg. Greg tries to befriend Fregley to make Rowley jealous, although he is uncomfortable around Fregley. Resorting to auditioning for the school play (based on The Wizard of Oz) Greg lands the role as a tree, while Patty is cast as Dorothy, the protagonist of the novel. During the show''s opening performance, Rodrick unexpectedly brings a camera to film the play. Greg becomes too nervous to sing, confusing the other "trees" who also fail to sing. Patty gets frustrated and angers Greg, who then throws props at Patty, and then everyone gets in the fight, ending the play in chaos. Rowley confronts Greg, which leads to a non-physical fight. The teens return and the younger kids scatter. The teens force Greg and Rowley to eat the "Cheese Touch," a moldy piece of cheese that had been left on the grounds of the school. Greg refuses, dishonestly claiming that he is allergic to cheese and will die if he eats it, thus leaving Rowley to eat it. The other students notice that the Cheese is gone, assuming that someone has destroyed it; however, Greg takes the blame instead of Rowley as he feels pity on him. He and Rowley again become friends and Greg begins to anticipate a relaxing summer of playing video games.

Diary of a Wimpy Kid

The story focuses on the battle fought in East Africa between British and German forces during World War I, and how it affects several individual people whose paths will eventually converge. The first character introduced is Walter Smith, an American expatriate farm owner/mechanic/engineer who runs a successful sisal plantation in British East Africa near Mount Kilimanjaro. Before war breaks out in August 1914, Smith is on cordial terms with his German half-English neighbour, Erich von Bishop. Smith even shops for coffee plant seedlings at the botanical garden in the capital of German East Africa, Dar es Salaam. Major von Bishop burns Smith''s sisal and linseed plantation in the opening campaign of the Great War, and then dismantles the massive Decorticator, the industrial centrepiece of Smith''s sisal farm operations. Now made a penniless refugee, and unable to secure any war reparations from the colonial British bureaucracy, Smith parks his wife and children with his missionary father-in-law and joins the British military forces in Nairobi, pursuing personal vengeance against von Bishop over the next four years of war in East Africa. The second narrative strand involves Felix Cobb, the studious youngest son of an aristocratic and traditional British military family, everyone of whom he despises apart from his older brother Gabriel, a captain. The latter soon marries his sweetheart Charis (inspiring a certain jealousy in Felix), but World War I breaks out while Gabriel is on his honeymoon in Normandy, and he makes haste back to his regiment. Gabriel is posted to Africa, where he befriends psychotic fellow soldier Bilderbeck and is quickly wounded by German soldiers. Whilst recovering in a POW hospital, he develops an infatuation for Erich von Bishop''s plump, stubborn wife Liesl, who works there as a nurse... The novel could be considered a satire on the ineptitude of authority in wartime. A recurring character, English District Officer Wheech-Browning, spreads chaos wherever he goes, such that Smith observes that every time he goes somewhere with Wheech-Browning, someone in their company meets an unfortunate death.

An Ice-Cream War

The main plot of Checkers is told in flash back, first-person narration which takes the form of a diary. The author of this diary is a nameless teenage girl, who is a voluntary patient in a Psychiatric Ward. She refuses to talk about why she''s there and does not say a word during her Group therapy sessions. Before she admits herself into hospital, she lived with a grimly dysfunctional and uncommunicative family of four, whose father was a co-owner of a company named Rider Group receives a multi-million dollar business contract. As part of the celebration, the girl''s father buys her a pet dog, which she names Checkers, for his odd fur pattern. Soon, however, her father''s company begins being attacked by the press, who accuse him and his business partner of gross corruption, allegedly involving the Premier of the State. The Premier continually denies having ever met the girl''s father, but these accusations and negative media attention escalate over a period of months. The pressure drives the girl further into isolation and cements the bond she has with Checkers. Reporters continue to hound the family and the girl is under strict instructions not to discuss any personal matters. However, one day when returning from a walk with Checkers, she strikes up a conversation with a young reporter waiting outside her house. The reporter is intrigued by Checkers, seemingly by his unusual appearance and asks to take a photo of him. The following day, the newspapers are claiming Checkers is the missing link between the Rider Group and the Premier. Two photos are published; one of Checkers and one of the Premier''s dog, and it is revealed The Premier gave Checkers to her father as a gift. The girl returns home from school to discover the story, and finds her father has murdered Checkers with a carving knife. The events between that day and her admittance to the hospital are never revealed. At the end of the novel, the girl seems to have resigned herself to being in hospital forever, and she continues to blame herself for the death of her beloved dog. The novel also has many sub-plots which takes place in the psychiatric ward in real time. These sub-plots are mostly descriptions and backstories of the other teenagers in the ward, who all suffer from various types of mental defection. These characters include Daniel, who has Obsessive–compulsive disorder, Cindy, an emotionally damaged girl who self-injures and who tries to commit suicide towards the end of the book, Esther, a heavily medicated but honest and friendly "query psychotic" who believes there is an animal living inside her head, Ben, a boy with Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, Oliver, an anorexic and Emine, a Turkish-Australian girl who was driven to mental breakdown by the pressure of strict, Turkish parents. Each character is given considerable text and attention, up until the final chapter when the last of them leave the ward and return to normal life, leaving only the unnamed narrator, who suggests she means never to leave.

Checkers

The book is divided into two parts and eighteen chapters. Part one deals mostly with the education of Njoroge, while part two deals with the rising revolutionary, anti-colonist turmoil in Kenya. Njoroge, a young boy, is urged to attend school by his mother. He is the first one out of his family who is able to go to school. His family lives on the land of Jacobo, an African made rich by his dealings with white settlers, namely Mr. Howlands, the most powerful land owner in the area. Njoroge''s brother Kamau works as an apprentice to a carpenter while Boro, the eldest living son, is troubled by his experiences while in forced service during World War II, one of which was witnessing the death of his elder brother. Ngotho, Njoroge''s father and a respected man in the surrounding area, tends Mr. Howlands'' crops more to preserve and keep an eye on his ancestral land, than for any compensation or loyalty. One day, a strike is called for higher wages for the black workers. Ngotho does not know if he should participate at first, because he would likely lose his job. Finally, however, he decides to go to the gathering, although his two wives do not agree. At the demonstration, there are calls for higher wages. Suddenly Jacobo, the father of Mwihaki, appears with the white police inspector. He tries to put an end to the strike (the police brought him there to pacify the native people). Ngotho attacks Jacobo. The result is a big tumult with two people being killed. Nevertheless, Jacobo survives and swears revenge. Njoroge’s family is forced to move and Ngotho loses his job. Njoroge’s education is thereafter funded by his brothers who seem to lose respect for their father. Mwihaki then goes to a girls'' only boarding school, leaving Njoroge relatively alone. He reflects upon her leaving, and realizes that he was embarrassed by his father''s actions towards Jacobo. For this reason, Njoroge is not upset by her exit and their separation. Njoroge stays close to home where he switches to another school. For a time, everyone''s attention is focused on the upcoming trial of Jomo Kenyatta - a revered leader of the movement. Many blacks think that he is going to bring forth Kenya’s independence. But Jomo loses the trial and is imprisoned. This results in further protests and greater suppression of the black population. Jacobo and a white landowner, Mr. Howlands, fight against the rising activities of the Mau Mau, an organization striving for Kenyan economic, political, and cultural independence. Jacobo accuses Ngotho of being the leader of the Mau Mau and tries to imprison the whole family. Meanwhile, the situation in the country is deteriorating. Six black men are taken out of their houses and executed in the woods. One day Njoroge meets Mwihaki again, who returned from boarding school. Although Njoroge thought he had needed to avoid her, their friendship is not affected by the situation between their fathers. Then Njoroge passes a very important exam that allows him to advance to High School. The whole village is proud of him. They collect enough money so that Njoroge is able to attend High School. After a few months, Jacobo is killed. He is murdered in his office by a member of the Mau Mau. Mr. Howlands has Njoroge removed from school for questioning. Both father and son are brutally beaten before release and Ngotho is left barely alive. Although there doesn''t seem to be a connection between Njoroge''s family and the murder, it is eventually revealed that Njoroge''s brothers are behind the assassination. Boro, the real leader of the Mau Mau. Ngotho soon dies from his injuries and Njoroge finds out that his father was protecting his brothers. Kamau has also been imprisoned for life. Only Njoroge and his two mothers remain free with Njoroge left as the sole provider to his two mothers. With no hope of making ends meet, Njoroge gives up all hope of going further in school and loses faith in God. Njoroge now hopes for Mwihaki''s support, but she is angry because of her father’s death. When he finally pledges his love to her, she refuses to leave with him, realizing her obligation to Kenya and her mother. He finally decides to leave town and makes an attempt to take his own life; however, he fails at even this because his mothers find him before he is able to hang himself . The novel closes with Njoroge''s utter sense of hopelessness and his own feelings of cowardice.

Weep Not, Child

The story takes place in the city core of Metropolitan Toronto (Downtown Toronto) after the economic collapse, which saw investors, commerce and government flee to the suburbs. After the police left, the city erupted in chaos and the Riots occurred. As a consequence of the Riots, Toronto is isolated from other satellite cities in the surrounding Greater Toronto Area (North York, Scarborough, Etobicoke) by roadblocks and Lake Ontario has become a mudhole. In the twelve years since the Riots, the city is now ruled by a criminal mastermind named Rudy Sheldon. Rudy is commissioned to find a heart for the Premier of Ontario, who needs a heart transplant. Normally, the Porcine Organ Harvest Program is used, but Premier Uttley deems the program "immoral" and prefers a human donor instead. Ti-Jeanne is the heroine of the story. She''s a new mother who gets visions of people''s deaths, and her grandmother, Gros-Jeanne, is a well-respected apothecary and spiritualist who runs an herbal and medicine shop. Ti-Jeanne left her former lover, Tony, but, after Tony defies Rudy, whom he works for by refusing to kill someone for their heart, he arrives on her grandmother''s doorsteps asking for protection. Ti-Jeanne decides to help him with the aid of her grandmother. Later in the novel, Rudy is revealed to be Ti-Jeanne''s grandfather, Gros-Jeanne''s husband. It turns out that Rudy was an abusive husband and Gros-Jeanne kicked him out and found a new lover, named Dunston, and since Rudy has been vengeful. Meanwhile, Rudy summons the Calabash Duppy spirit and commands the duppy to kill Gros-jeanne, Ti-Jeanne and Tony, who was sent to kill Gros-Jeanne and take her heart for Primier Uttley). It''s revealed that the duppy is Mi-Jeanne (Ti-Jeanne''s mom). In the CN Tower, Rudy sets the Calabash spirit on Ti-Jeanne who has come to confront him after Tony killed Gros-Jeanne. Ti-Jeanne is trapped and injected with Buff, a drug that paralyzes her. While in a state of paralysis, Ti-Jeanne slips into an "astral" state or spirit state, and she calls upon the ancestor spirits to help her. They kill Rudy by allowing the "weight of every murder he had done fell on him." Meanwhile, Premier Uttley''s new heart (Gros-Jeanne''s heart) attacks her body. Eventually, it takes over her spirit and when she wakes up from the surgery, she has a change of mind about human heart donorship and declares that she will make an attempt to help Toronto return to a rule of law by funding small business owners. On Gros-Jeanne''s Nine Night event, all her friends arrive to help out, and so does Tony. Ti-Jeanne has trouble forgiving him for killing Gros-Jeanne, but Jenny tells her "he wants to do penance." She lets him into the event to say goodbye to Gros-Jeanne and is surprised that Baby doesn''t cry around him anymore. It ends with Ti-Jeanne sitting on her steps, thinking of what she''ll name Baby, who is possessed with the spirit of Dunston, Gros-Jeanne''s former lover.

Brown Girl in the Ring

The novel is divided into three volumes. Part One (Chapters 1 to 15): Gilbert Markham narrates how a mysterious widow, Mrs. Helen Graham arrives at Wildfell Hall, a nearby old mansion. A source of curiosity for the small community, the reticent Mrs Graham and her young son Arthur are slowly drawn into the social circles of the village. Initially, Gilbert Markham casually courts Eliza Millward, despite his mother''s belief that he can do better. His interest in Eliza wanes as he comes to know Mrs. Graham. In retribution, Eliza spreads (and perhaps creates) scandalous rumours about Helen. With gossip flying, Gilbert is led to believe that his friend, Mr. Lawrence is courting Mrs. Graham. At a chance meeting in a road, a jealous Gilbert strikes (with a whip) the mounted Lawrence, who falls from his horse. Unaware of this, Helen refuses to marry Gilbert, but gives him her diaries when he accuses her of loving Lawrence. Part two (Chapters 16 to 44) is taken from Helen''s diaries and describes her marriage to Arthur Huntingdon. The handsome, witty Huntingdon is also spoilt, selfish, and self-indulgent. Before marrying Helen, Arthur Huntingdon flirts with Annabella and uses this to manipulate Helen and convince her to marry him. Helen marries him blinded by love and resolves to reform Arthur with gentle persuasion and good example. Upon the birth of their child, Huntingdon becomes increasingly jealous of their son (also called Arthur) and his claims on Helen''s attentions and affections. Huntingdon''s pack of dissolute friends frequently engage in drunken revels at the family''s home, Grassdale, oppressing those of finer character. Both men and women are portrayed as degraded, with Lady Annabella Lowborough shown to be an unfaithful spouse to her melancholy but devoted husband. Walter Hargrave, the brother of Helen''s friend Milicent Hargrave, vies for Helen''s affections. While not as wild as his peers, Walter is an unwelcome admirer: Helen senses his predatory nature, something revealed when they play chess. Walter tells Helen of Arthur''s affair with Lady Lowborough. When his friends depart, Arthur pines openly for his paramour and derides his wife. Arthur''s corruption of their son &mdash; encouraging him to drink and swear at his tender age &mdash; is the last straw for Helen. She plans to flee to save her son, but her husband learns of her plans from her journal, and burns her artist''s tools (by which she had hoped to support herself). Eventually, with help from her brother, Mr. Lawrence, Helen finds a secret refuge at Wildfell Hall. Part Three (Chapters 45 to 53) begins after the reading of the diaries when Helen bids Gilbert to leave her because she is not free to marry. He complies and soon learns that she has returned to Grassdale upon learning that Arthur is gravely ill. Helen''s ministrations are in vain. Huntingdon''s death is painful, fraught with terror at what awaits him. Helen cannot comfort him, for he rejects responsibility for his actions and wishes instead for her to ''come with him'', to plead for his salvation. A year passes. Gilbert pursues a rumour of Helen''s impending wedding, only to find that Mr. Lawrence (with whom he has reconciled) is marrying Helen''s friend, Esther Hargrave. He goes to Grassdale, and discovers that Helen is now wealthy and lives at her estate in Staningley. He travels there, but is plagued by worries that she is now far above his station. He hesitates at the entry-gate. By chance, he encounters Helen, her aunt, and young Arthur. The two lovers reconcile and marry.

The Tenant of Wildfell Hall

Eleven-year-old Jamie Reardon’s cat dies, his father leaves home; and his aunt Sapphy has an accident at work that causes her memory to skip. Jamie is a boy who is teased at school and, on the other hand, has a memory he''d give anything to be able to forget. He is performing badly at school and has Miss Miller,an unsympathetic teacher. A visiting author, or as Jamie hears the name - ''Arthur'', recognises that the boy is troubled, but the two do not have a chance to really communicate. Jamie has to sort out his problems himself. He tries to find the magic trigger that will help Sapphy''s memory jump the scratch, like the needle on a record, but in the end it''s Audrey Krouch, a neighborhood girl who hypnotises him. Under hypnosis, when he is hoping to learn how to forget, Jamie recalls his recent sexual abuse by Old Gray, a paedophile caretaker at the trailer park where he lives in Traverse City, Michigan. Jamie''s emotional reaction to the incident he was trying to suppress returns Sapphy’s memory, and the boy is finally able to tell her everything. The actual abuse is not described in the book. Sarah Weeks has said that, "I felt like I wanted to protect Jamie’s privacy... Jamie didn’t want anybody to know what had happened to him in Old Gray’s office on Christmas Eve, so it didn’t feel right for me to tell all the details either."

Jumping the Scratch

The novel centers on a young, independently wealthy traveler (the narrator), who accidentally finds his way into a subterranean world occupied by beings who seem to resemble angels and call themselves Vril-ya. The hero soon discovers that the Vril-ya are descendants of an antediluvian civilization who live in networks of subterranean caverns linked by tunnels. It is a technologically supported Utopia, chief among their tools being the "all-permeating fluid" called "Vril", a latent source of energy which its spiritually elevated hosts are able to master through training of their will, to a degree which depends upon their hereditary constitution, giving them access to an extraordinary force that can be controlled at will. The powers of the will include the ability to heal, change, and destroy beings and things; the destructive powers in particular are awesomely powerful, allowing a few young Vril-ya children to wipe out entire cities if necessary. It is also suggested that the Vril-ya are fully telepathic. The narrator states that in time, the Vril-ya will run out of habitable spaces underground and start claiming the surface of the Earth, destroying mankind in the process if necessary. The uses of Vril in the novel amongst the Vril-ya vary from an agent of destruction to a healing substance. According to Zee, the daughter of the narrator''s host, Vril can be changed into the mightiest agency over all types of matter, both animate and inanimate. It can destroy like lightning or replenish life, heal, or cure. It is used to rend ways through solid matter. Its light is said to be steadier, softer and healthier than that from any flammable material. It can also be used as a power source for animating mechanisms. Vril can be harnessed by use of the Vril staff or mental concentration. A Vril staff is an object in the shape of a wand or a staff which is used as a channel for Vril. The narrator describes it as hollow with ''stops'', ''keys'', or ''springs'' in which Vril can be altered, modified or directed to either destroy or heal. The staff is about the size of a walking stick but can be lengthened or shortened according to the user''s preferences. The appearance and function of the Vril staff differs according to gender, age, etc. Some staves are more potent for destruction, others for healing. The staves of children are said to be much simpler than those of sages; in those of wives and mothers the destructive part is removed while the healing aspects are emphasized.

Vril

The Duke of Mantua plans to marry off his daughter Eugenia to the ruler of Florence; to do so, he shuts Eugenia in a tower and banishes her noble suitor Philenzo. But Philenzo returns in disguise, and brags to the court that he can succeed in any task the Duke assigns him &mdash; if the Duke grants him the financial resources necessary. The Duke (in the best fairy-tale tradition), sets Philenzo the task of gaining access to the princess Eugenia in her sequestered tower; the Duke considers the matter as something of a joke, but also a good opportunity to test the soundness of his security. Philenzo is allowed a month for the task, and a blank check on the Duke''s treasure house. And of course, the penalty for failure is death. Philenzo tries bribes, which do not work. Facing the apparent failure of his effort, Philenzo decides that he can at least relieve the poor debtors in the Duke''s dungeons. One of the debtors, however, provides Philenzo with a new strategy for reaching the princess. The Duke in presented with a large and elaborate cage full of rare birds; and the Duke sends the present to Eugenia. When she opens it, Philenzo steps out from concealment in the central pillar of the apparatus. Thus the title of the play applies to both Eugenia and Philenzo (as it does, in another sense, to the dedicatee, the imprisoned Prynne). The next day the still-disguised Philenzo informs the Duke that he has succeeded in his task. Eugenia, brought to the court for confirmation, supports Philenzo''s claim &mdash; and asks that she be allowed to marry the clever stranger. The Duke is outraged at her request; to marry a stranger of no birth is worse than marrying Philenzo. Philenzo doffs his disguise, revealing his true identity; but the unyielding Duke orders him executed. Seemingly in the knick of time, a letter arrives from the Duke of Florence, who has heard of the matter of Eugenia and Philenzo and renounces any interest in the arranged match. Florence''s letter advises Mantua to let the young lovers marry, and Mantua decides to make the best of a bad bargain. When Philenzo in summoned back, however, it is learned that the condemned man poisoned himself on the way to execution; his corpse is brought in as proof. When the "dead" Philenzo overhears that he and Eugenia were to be allowed to marry, he returns to life.

The Bird in a Cage

The year is 2044 and the world is in near-ruins. The Great Recession has taken its toll on the world''s economy, and resources are scarce. The Internet and gaming culture have evolved into a creation known as OASIS, a massive multiplayer online simulation game created by James Halliday and Ogden Morrow of Gregarious Simulation Systems (GSS), formerly known as Gregarious Games. Halliday, with no heirs or other living family, dies suddenly and leaves a video will to those in OASIS and a book that was dubbed Anorak''s Almanac, which purports to be a volume written by James Halliday''s avatar Anorak in OASIS. The video says that whoever can collect three keys (Copper, Jade, and Crystal) that are hidden throughout the universe of OASIS and pass through the matching gates will receive his fortune and controlling stake in GSS. This becomes known as the Hunt and people immediately begin the search for Halliday''s Easter Egg. Those searching for the Egg are referred to as "gunters," a truncation of "egg hunters." Gunters devote an enormous amount of time to studying 1980s pop culture, the decade Halliday grew up in and was perpetually obsessed with, in the hope it will assist them with locating and solving the puzzles involved with the egg.

Ready Player One

The Hungry Tide tells a very contemporary story of adventure and unlikely love, identity and history, set in one of the most fascinating regions on the earth. Off the easternmost coast of India, in the Bay of Bengal, lies the immense labyrinth of tiny islands known as the Sundarbans. For settlers here, life is extremely precarious. Attacks by deadly tigers are common. Unrest and eviction are constant threats. Without warning, at any time, tidal floods rise and surge over the land, leaving devastation in their wake. In this place of vengeful beauty, the lives of three people from different worlds collide. Piyali Roy is a young marine biologist, of Indian descent but stubbornly American, in search of a rare, endangered river dolphin, Orcaella brevirostris. Her journey begins with a disaster, when she is thrown from a boat into crocodile-infested waters. Rescue comes in the form of a young, illiterate fisherman, Fokir. Although they have no language between them, Piya and Fokir are powerfully drawn to each other, sharing an uncanny instinct for the ways of the sea. Piya engages Fokir to help with her research and finds a translator in Kanai Dutt, a businessman from Delhi whose idealistic aunt and uncle are longtime settlers in the Sundarbans. As the three of them launch into the elaborate backwaters, they are drawn unawares into the hidden undercurrents of this isolated world, where political turmoil exacts a personal toll that is every bit as powerful as the ravaging tide. Already an international success, The Hungry Tide is a prophetic novel of remarkable insight, beauty, and humanity. The Morichjhanpi massacre incident of 1978-79, when government of West Bengal forcibly evicted thousands of Bengali refugees who had settled on the island, forms a background for some parts of the novel. The novel explores topics like humanism and environmentalism, especially when they come into a conflict of interest with each other.

The Hungry Tide

In The Forests of Silence, the topaz had been retrieved by Lief, Barda, and Jasmine. They continue on their way to the Lake of Tears, to retrieve the ruby. They learn that the land surrounding the Lake of Tears is controlled by the evil sorceress Thaegan, who has 13 monster children. As the companions travel through the countryside they rescue a man named Manus from the Shadow Lord''s servants, Grey Guards. Manus is from the city of Raladin. 100 years ago, Thaegan put a spell on Raladin that caused them and all of their offspring to never be able to speak. Lief, Barda, and Jasmine also learn that Thaegan put a spell on the city of D''Or and turned it into the Lake of Tears. The companions, with Manus, escape from the Grey Guards only to be captured by Jin and Jod, two of Thaegan''s children. They eventually defeat Jin and Jod and journey to the city of Raladin, where Manus hopes to find his people. Upon arrival, they find the city empty. Only when the Ralad people hear the companions, they come out of hiding. Lief, Barda, and Jasmine tell the Ralads that they must journey to the Lake of Tears, despite the Ralads pleas, but they do not tell them they are going in quest of one of the gems of the Belt of Deltora. Manus agrees to be their guide. When they get to the Lake of Tears, the monster Soldeen attacks them. Soldeen is a giant fish-like creature who is very deadly and has the ability to speak. Using the power of the topaz, Lief persuades Soldeen to give them the ruby. As Soldeen agrees, Thaegan appears and threatens to kill them all. The ruby flies out of Lief''s hand and into the depths of the Lake as Thaegan uses her magic to harm them. Just as Thaegan is about to kill them all, Jasmine''s bird Kree comes and kills Thaegan by drawing blood. All of Thaegan''s spells are broken: the Ralads can now speak and the Lake of Tears turns back into the city of D''Or. Soldeen is a man named Nanion and gives the three companions the gem and wishes them well on their quest. The Belt now holds the topaz and ruby and now they journey towards the City of the Rats.

Over 8000 Takeaways For Your Brain!

Read - Listen - Learn

Diary of a Wimpy Kid

By Jeff Kinney

An Ice-Cream War

By William Boyd

Checkers

By John Marsden

Weep Not, Child

By Ngũgĩ wa Thiong''o

Brown Girl in the Ring

By Nalo Hopkinson

The Tenant of Wildfell Hall

By Anne Brontë

Jumping the Scratch

No Author Listed

Vril

By Edward Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Baron Lytton

The Bird in a Cage

No Author Listed

Ready Player One

By Ernest Cline

The Hungry Tide

By Amitav Ghosh

The Lake of Tears

By Jennifer Rowe