Ella lives in a fanciful and magical world where all children are given a "gift" from their fairy Godmother at birth. Ella's gift - and curse - was that of obedience. As a result, Ella cannot refuse any command, and as a result she is often taken advantage of. In a bid to regain control of her life, Ella goes on a quest to free herself from this mysterious "gift". Ella must outwit a kingdom filled with ogres, giants, wicked stepsisters, talking books...

Twelve-year-old Elodie journeys to Two Castles in hopes of studying acting but instead becomes apprentice to a dragon, who teaches her to be observant and use reasoning, thus helping her to uncover who is poisoning the king.

Relates the tale of Rumpelstiltskin's childhood and youth, explaining why his name is so important, how he is able to spin straw into gold, and why a first-born child is his reward for helping the miller's daughter-turned-queen.

Silke has an unexpected opportunity to learn what happened to her parents years before when Princess Katrin asks her to stay at the palace as a spy during a visit from the fairy rulers of Elfenwald.

Eleven-year-old Pearl Moran cannot imagine life without the historic but under-utilized branch of the New York Public Library where she was born (in the Memorial Room) and where her single mother works as the circulation librarian; the other librarians, the neighborhood people, the raccoons, and most of the 41,000 plus books all form the structure and essence of her life--but when someone cuts off the head of the library's statue of Edna St. Vincent...