While staying on her uncle's rundown farm in the Somerset countryside, twelve-year-old Midge discovers that she has a special connection to the Various, a tribe of "strange, wild--and sometimes deadly" fairies struggling to maintain their existence in the nearby woods.

Paolo, a fictional ten-year-old apprentice to Leonardo da Vinci, maintains a diary which tells of an exciting time in Renaissance Italy. Includes an illustrated reference chapter.

Baz and Ray, survivors of an apocalyptic flood, win places on X-Isle, an island where life is rumored to be better than on the devastated mainland, but they find the island to be a violent place ruled by religious fanatic Preacher John, andthey decide they must come up with a weapon to protect themselves from impending danger.