When Aldwyn, a young alley cat on the run, ducks into a mysterious pet shop, he doesn’t expect his life to change. But that’s exactly what happens when Jack, a young wizard, picks Aldwyn to be his magical familiar. Finally off the tough streets, Aldwyn thinks he’s got it made. He just has to convince the other familiars—the know-it-all blue jay Skylar and the friendly tree frog Gilbert—that he’s the telekinetic cat he claims to be. But when Jack and two other wizards in training are captured by a terrible evil, it will take all of Aldwyn’s street smarts, a few good friends, and a nose for adventure to save the day!

“Assured and alluring, this beautiful tale of women, witchcraft and the fight against power is a delight.” —Jessie Burton, New York Times–bestselling author In 1612 Lancaster, England, the hunt for witches has reached a fever pitch . . . But in a time of suspicion and accusation, to be a woman may be the greatest risk of all. Fleetwood Shuttleworth, the mistress of Pendle Hill’s Gawthorpe Hall, is with child. Anxious to produce an heir, she is distraught to find a letter from her physician that warns her husband she will not survive this pregnancy. Devastated, Fleetwood wanders the estate grounds, where she catches a young woman poaching. Alice Gray claims she is a local midwife and promises to help Fleetwood deliver a healthy baby. But a witch-obsessed frenzy sweeps the countryside. Even woodland creatures or “familiars” are thought to be dark companions of the unholy. And Alice soon stands accused of witchcraft. Time is running out. The witch trials are about to begin. With both their lives at stake, Fleetwood must prove Alice’s innocence. Only they know the truth. Set against the real Pendle witch trials, this compelling novel draws its characters from historical figures as it explores the lives of seventeenth-century women. Ultimately it raises the question: Was witch hunting really just women hunting? “A rich and atmospheric reimagining of a historical period rife with religious tensions, superstitions, misogyny and fear.” —The New York Times Book Review “An intricate and sensitive portrayal of a brave, tenacious young girl carving her place in the world. A must-read novel.” —Heather Morris, #1 New York Times–bestselling author

Prepare for the unfamiliar When every bit of human magic disappears suddenly from Vastia, it falls on the familiars—Aldwyn the telekinetic cat, Skylar the know-it-all blue jay, and Gilbert the gullible tree frog—to find the Crown of the Snow Leopard, an ancient relic that can reverse the curse. They learn that the only way to do this is by following in the paw prints of Aldwyn’s missing father, who went searching for the Crown several years earlier. This magical spirit trail extends into the Beyond, where our heroes encounter new enemies and danger, while Aldwyn learns about his mysterious past. Full of high-flying adventure and heartwarming friendships, Secrets of the Crown will make readers want to get even more familiar with The Familiars!

Unfamiliar Familiars is a comprehensive and humorous handbook to finding and caring for the unconventional animal companion. This guide will help you find the animal best suited to your personality and particular magical needs. Animals include a narwhal (strong in clairvoyance and fencing), an albatross (best for sea-faring witches), or an earthworm (for garden-based magic and fish summoning). • Features real-world facts with a playful, magical spin • Includes a helpful quiz for finding your own familiar • Brimming with suggested names, strengths, weaknesses, and more Forget the toads and black cats: Every witch is unique, so shouldn't you have a familiar as one-of-a-kind and extraordinary as yourself? Unfamiliar Familiars is an entertaining and educational guide to a menagerie of magical, less-appreciated creatures that may just become your ideal partner in the arcane arts. • Filled with quirky, charming watercolor illustrations • Perfect for anyone who wants to find their own familiar, just as they love learning about their own horoscope, zodiac reading, or Pottermore Patronus • Sure to delight animal lovers who have a sense of humor • You'll love this book if you love books like Sad Animal Facts by Brooke Barker; Basic Witches: How to Summon Success, Banish Drama, and Raise Hell with Your Coven by Jaya Saxena and Jess Zimmerman; and The Wild Unknown Animal Spirit Deck and Guidebook by Kim Krans.

The familiars Aldwyn the cat, Skyler the blue jay, and Gilbert the tree frog are off on an all-new adventure in the series that Michael Buckley, bestselling author of The Sisters Grimm and NERDS series, says "combines the magic of Harry Potter and the adventure of Warriors." With inventive magic, laugh-out-loud humor, and a mysterious conspiracy that will take all the familiars' wits to unravel, Palace of Dreams is the familiars' most extraordinary adventure yet. Peace has returned to the queendom of Vastia. Paksahara has been defeated, and the three familiars Aldwyn, Skyler, and Gilbert are the heroes to thank. But when a birthday celebration at the palace goes dreadfully wrong, and Queen Loranella falls victim to a curse, it seems the familiars are the prime suspects. After narrowly escaping the palace dungeons, they'll have to embark on a quest to clear their names—a quest that will lead them across Vastia and even into the magical land of dreams.

For fans of Warriors and The Magic Thief comes a magical adventure series about a street cat who's mistaken for a wizard’s familiar.

From the author of the international best seller House of Leaves and National Book Award–nominated Only Revolutions comes a monumental new novel as dazzling as it is riveting. The Familiar (Volume 1) ranges from Mexico to Southeast Asia, from Venice, Italy, to Venice, California, with nine lives hanging in the balance, each called upon to make a terrifying choice. They include a therapist-in-training grappling with daughters as demanding as her patients; an ambitious East L.A. gang member contracted for violence; two scientists in Marfa, Texas, on the run from an organization powerful beyond imagining; plus a recovering addict in Singapore summoned at midnight by a desperate billionaire; and a programmer near Silicon Beach whose game engine might unleash consequences far exceeding the entertainment he intends. At the very heart, though, is a twelve-year-old girl named Xanther who one rainy day in May sets out with her father to get a dog, only to end up trying to save a creature as fragile as it is dangerous . . . which will change not only her life and the lives of those she has yet to encounter, but this world, too—or at least the world we think we know and the future we take for granted. (With full-color illustrations throughout.) Like the print edition, this eBook contains a complex image-based layout. It is most readable on e-reading devices with larger screen sizes.

Aldwyn, a street-smart alley cat, pretended he had telekinetic powers so young wizard Jack would chose him as a familiar. Aldwyn then learned that he and two other familiars—Skylar the blue jay and Gilbert the tree frog—were destined to undertake a perilous quest to defeat Paksahara, an evil hare who’d been familiar to the queen. In Circle of Heroes, the third book of The Familiars series for middle-grade readers, Paksahara and her undead animal army control the Shifting Fortress. Aldwyn and his friends have to recapture it to return magic to the queendom of Vastia. Fans of The Guardians of Ga’hoole series and Erin Hunter’s Warriors books will love the mix of humor, magic, and animal adventure story in Circle of Heroes by Adam Jay Epstein and Andrew Jacobson.

Looking back at images of violence in the popular culture of early modern England, we find that the specter of the murderer loomed most vividly not in the stranger, but in the familiar; and not in the master, husband, or father, but in the servant, wife, or mother. A gripping exploration of seventeenth-century accounts of domestic murder in fact and fiction, this book is the first to ask why.Frances E. Dolan examines stories ranging from the profoundly disturbing to the comically macabre: of husband murder, wife murder, infanticide, and witchcraft. She surveys trial transcripts, confessions, and scaffold speeches, as well as pamphlets, ballads, popular plays based on notorious crimes, and such well-known works as The Tempest, Othello, Macbeth, and The Winter's Tale. Citing contemporary analogies between the politics of household and commonwealth, she shows how both legal and literary narratives attempt to restore the order threatened by insubordinate dependents.

Who Needs a Friend, When You Have a Familiar? Animals have been our companions since the dawn of time, but in science fiction and fantasy, often that bond is taken one magical—or technological—step further. In Familiars we asked authors to put their own unique spin on this idea, resulting in this collection of fifteen stories that explore the range of familiar bonds—from cats to caterpillars, squids to squirrels, and everything in between. With settings from fantasy to science fiction, and stories ranging from humor to horror, there's something to appeal to everyone! Featuring stories by Brian Hugenbruch, Lawrence Harding, Jean Marie Ward, Jordan Bricco, Alexander G.R. Gideon, Gini Koch & Bebe Bayliss, Russell Hugh McConnell, Kari Sperring, Alicia Cay, Jim C. Hines, Sharon Lee & Steve Miller, Shanna Germain, Jacey Bedford, A. Katherine Black, and Jason Palmatier. The buddy system is back, baby!