The Legend of Greyhallow - by Summer Rachel Short

About the Book

"Twelve-year-old Ainsley Galloway and her ten-year-old brother, have just moved to the small, picturesque mountain town of Lowry. The town is amously the setting for the blockbuster Legend of Greyhallow trilogy and there are traces of the films wherever they go. Ainsley's parents even bought the film director's former home, which they dream of turning into an inn that caters to fans eager to check out the local Greyhallow Movie Festival. But when Ainsley and Tobin are fooling around in the attic of their new home, Ainsley unleashes something. Something she doesn't quite understand. And suddenly, purple mist is flooding the town, she's receiving cryptic messages from strangers in medieval garb. Oddest of all, the enigmatic director of the Greyhallow movies, who's been missing for years, has a message for them. Ainsley and Tobin have opened a passage between the very real magical world of the movies and their own. In a swirl of shifting loyalties, capricious creatures, and movie trivia, Ainsley and Tobin have to figure out what to do--and who to trust--in order to save them all."--Publisher marketing.

Book Synopsis

"[F]ans of The Lord of the Rings and portal fantasies will find much to enjoy" (Kirkus Reviews) in this fantastical middle grade adventure about two siblings who must close the door to a magical realm that inspired a popular movie franchise before their own world is conquered by emerging foes.

Twelve-year-old Ainsley Galloway and her ten-year-old brother, Tobin, have just moved to the small, picturesque mountain town of Lowry. The town is famously the setting for the blockbuster Legend of Greyhallow trilogy and there are traces of the films wherever they go. Ainsley's parents even bought the film director's former home, which they dream of turning into an inn that caters to fans eager to check out the local Greyhallow Movie Festival.

But when Ainsley and Tobin are fooling around in the attic of their new home, Ainsley unleashes something. Something she doesn't quite understand. And suddenly, purple mist is flooding the town and she's receiving cryptic messages from strangers in medieval garb. Oddest of all, the enigmatic director of the Greyhallow movies, who's been missing for years, has a message for them.

Ainsley and Tobin have opened a passage between the very real magical world of the movies and their own. In a swirl of shifting loyalties, capricious creatures, and movie trivia, Ainsley and Tobin have to figure out what to do--and who to trust--in order to save them all.

Review Quotes

"An action-filled tale brimming with real-world and fantastical tensions...[t]his fun read artfully combines our reality with Greyhallow's, allowing readers to explore Ainsley's realistic relationship struggles with Charlotte, her best friend back home, and cheer her on as she spars with gargoyles and other magical creatures. Watching the siblings gain confidence as they solve puzzles both real and cinematic is satisfying, and fans of The Lord of the Rings and portal fantasies will find much to enjoy...[a] delightful, engaging otherworldly adventure sure to charm."--Kirkus Reviews

"In this exuberant adventure, Short (Attack of the Killer Komodos) blends ordinary interpersonal issues between Ainsley and her best friend Charlotte with classic portal fantasy tropes and properties to flesh out a wish-fulfilling jaunt couched in the theme of a metafictional desire to visit a beloved fandom's world."--Publishers Weekly