Books by Alex London

The Princess Protection Program #2: After Ever After

by Alex London

What happens when a princess accidentally fractures her fairy tale by fleeing to the real world? Bestselling author Alex London turns classic fairy tales on their heads in this fast-paced, funny fantasy about friendship and facing your fears. For fans of The School for Good and Evil and the Never Afters series.
Princess Rana loves her friends (all fellow fairy tale escapees), loves her school (the HEA, an academy for fairy tale royalty), and loves punk rock (the best music genre). But she does not love frogs . . . especially demanding frog princes who follow her home. Rana fled her story because of one frog prince in particular, and she has no plans of ever going back to that stuffy place full of rules. But then her frog prince shows up at the academy’s gate. And he’s not alone. Dozens of duplicate frog princes have followed him to the real world. Worse still, a shadowy monster is in hot pursuit, one that dissolves fairy tale characters into nothing, erasing their stories. To save everyone she cares about, Rana will have to do the one thing she vowed she'd never to do—return to her Once Upon Time.
Acclaimed and bestselling author Alex London weaves together several beloved fairy tales in this fast-paced, funny, and slyly subversive adventure about figuring out who you want to be. The daring escapes, sinister monsters, familiar friends, and surprise twists will keep even reluctant readers glued to the pages. The Princess Protection Program is for fans of the Never Afters and the Descendants series, The School for Good and Evil, and the Fairly True Tales series.

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The Princess Protection Program

by Alex London

“A delightful tongue in cheek twist on fairy tales and the magic school genre. Mixing the modern with the magical, author Alex London skewers popular fairy-tale tropes with a sharp wit and a loving, lighthearted touch, telling an empowering story where princesses learn to be their own fairy godmothers.” —Soman Chainani, author of The School for Good and Evil
“A slick, sly, and clever love letter to fairy tales. The Princess Protection Program is a celebration of changing the narrative to fit the person you are and not the person people want you to be. It's the fairy tale we need.”—Roshani Chokshi, New York Times bestselling author of Aru Shah and the End of Time
“A clever and laugh-out-loud tale of friendship, magic, and princesses—and a prince—who learn to rewrite their own stories. Absolutely charming.” —Sarah Mlynowski, New York Times bestselling author of the Whatever After and Best Wishes series
“A fast-paced, fun, and whimsical read about defining your own destiny.” —Claribel A. Ortega, New York Times bestselling author of the Witchlings series
Where can a princess hide if her Ever After isn’t all that Happy? Bestselling author Alex London turns classic fairy tales on their heads in this fast-paced, funny fantasy about embracing change and taking control of your own story. For fans of the School for Good and Evil and the Chronicles of Never After series.
Every fairy tale ends with its characters living happily ever after, right? A valiant prince quests long and hard to reach the castle where the sleeping princess lies. And with a kiss, he awakens her.
But what if the princess does not think a kiss from a stranger is a very pleasant way to wake up? Yuck!
When Rosamund flees her prince, a Door of Opportunity opens, and she steps through it to the Home Educational Academy (the HEA for short). Rosamund has found the Princess Protection Program, where fugitive fairy-tale princesses escape unwanted affections, untimely ends, and all the other perils of their stories.
But the longer Rosamund lives in the real world, the more questions she has. Does anyone ever graduate from the HEA? Why doesn’t anyone seem to remember the former students? Is the kindly fairy headmistress all she appears to be? Is anyone? And the most important question of all: Can Rosamund change her story?
Acclaimed and bestselling author Alex London weaves together several beloved fairy tales in this fast-paced, funny, and slyly subversive adventure about finding your place in the world.

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The Princess Protection Program

by Alex London

“A delightful tongue in cheek twist on fairy tales and the magic school genre. Mixing the modern with the magical, author Alex London skewers popular fairy-tale tropes with a sharp wit and a loving, lighthearted touch, telling an empowering story where princesses learn to be their own fairy godmothers.” —Soman Chainani, author of The School for Good and Evil
“A slick, sly, and clever love letter to fairy tales. The Princess Protection Program is a celebration of changing the narrative to fit the person you are and not the person people want you to be. It's the fairy tale we need.”—Roshani Chokshi, New York Times bestselling author of Aru Shah and the End of Time
“A clever and laugh-out-loud tale of friendship, magic, and princesses—and a prince—who learn to rewrite their own stories. Absolutely charming.” —Sarah Mlynowski, New York Times bestselling author of the Whatever After and Best Wishes series
“A fast-paced, fun, and whimsical read about defining your own destiny.” —Claribel A. Ortega, New York Times bestselling author of the Witchlings series
Where can a princess hide if her Ever After isn’t all that Happy? Bestselling author Alex London turns classic fairy tales on their heads in this fast-paced, funny fantasy about embracing change and taking control of your own story. For fans of the School for Good and Evil and the Chronicles of Never After series.
Every fairy tale ends with its characters living happily ever after, right? A valiant prince quests long and hard to reach the castle where the sleeping princess lies. And with a kiss, he awakens her.
But what if the princess does not think a kiss from a stranger is a very pleasant way to wake up? Yuck!
When Rosamund flees her prince, a Door of Opportunity opens, and she steps through it to the Home Educational Academy (the HEA for short). Rosamund has found the Princess Protection Program, where fugitive fairy-tale princesses escape unwanted affections, untimely ends, and all the other perils of their stories.
But the longer Rosamund lives in the real world, the more questions she has. Does anyone ever graduate from the HEA? Why doesn’t anyone seem to remember the former students? Is the kindly fairy headmistress all she appears to be? Is anyone? And the most important question of all: Can Rosamund change her story?
Acclaimed and bestselling author Alex London weaves together several beloved fairy tales in this fast-paced, funny, and slyly subversive adventure about finding your place in the world.

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Still Life

by Louise Penny, Alex London, Jay Hopler, Sarah Winman

Read the series that inspired Three Pines on Prime Video.

In Still Life, bestselling author Louise Penny introduces Inspector Armand Gamache of the Surêté du Québec.

Winner of the New Blood Dagger, Arthur Ellis, Barry, Anthony, and Dilys awards.

Chief Inspector Armand Gamache of the Surêté du Québec and his team of investigators are called in to the scene of a suspicious death in a rural village south of Montreal. Jane Neal, a local fixture in the tiny hamlet of Three Pines, just north of the U.S. border, has been found dead in the woods. The locals are certain it's a tragic hunting accident and nothing more, but Gamache smells something foul in these remote woods, and is soon certain that Jane Neal died at the hands of someone much more sinister than a careless bowhunter.

Still Life introduces not only an engaging series hero in Inspector Gamache, who commands his forces---and this series---with integrity and quiet courage, but also a winning and talented new writer of traditional mysteries in the person of Louise Penny.

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Still Life

by Louise Penny, Alex London, Jay Hopler, Sarah Winman

A Good Morning America Book Club Pick

A captivating, bighearted, richly tapestried story of people brought together by love, war, art, flood, and the ghost of E. M. Forster, by the celebrated author of Tin Man.

Tuscany, 1944: As Allied troops advance and bombs sink villages, a young English soldier, Ulysses Temper, finds himself in the wine cellar of a deserted villa. There, he has a chance encounter with Evelyn Skinner, a middle-aged art historian intent on salvaging paintings from the ruins. In each other, Ulysses and Evelyn find a kindred spirit amidst the rubble of war-torn Italy, and paint a course of events that will shape Ulysses’s life for the next four decades.

Returning home to London, Ulysses reimmerses himself in his crew at The Stoat and Parot—a motley mix of pub crawlers and eccentrics—all the while carrying with him his Italian evocations. So, when an unexpected inheritance brings him back to where it all began, Ulysses knows better than to tempt fate: he must return to the Tuscan hills.

With beautiful prose, extraordinary tenderness, and bursts of humor and light, Still Life is a sweeping portrait of unforgettable individuals who come together to make a family, and a deeply drawn celebration of beauty and love in all its forms.

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Still Life

by Louise Penny, Alex London, Jay Hopler, Sarah Winman

A Good Morning America Book Club Pick

A Veranda Magazine Book Club Pick

A captivating, bighearted, richly tapestried story of people brought together by love, war, art, flood, and the ghost of E. M. Forster, by the celebrated author of Tin Man.

Tuscany, 1944: As Allied troops advance and bombs fall around deserted villages, a young English soldier, Ulysses Temper, finds himself in the wine cellar of a deserted villa. There, he has a chance encounter with Evelyn Skinner, a middle-aged art historian who has come to Italy to salvage paintings from the ruins and recall long-forgotten memories of her own youth. In each other, Ulysses and Evelyn find a kindred spirit amidst the rubble of war-torn Italy, and set off on a course of events that will shape Ulysses's life for the next four decades.

As Ulysses returns home to London, reimmersing himself in his crew at The Stoat and Parot—a motley mix of pub crawlers and eccentrics—he carries his time in Italy with him. And when an unexpected inheritance brings him back to where it all began, Ulysses knows better than to tempt fate, and returns to the Tuscan hills.

With beautiful prose, extraordinary tenderness, and bursts of humor and light, Still Life is a sweeping portrait of unforgettable individuals who come together to make a family, and a deeply drawn celebration of beauty and love in all its forms.

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Still Life

by Louise Penny, Alex London, Jay Hopler, Sarah Winman

A Pulitzer Prize finalist.
Confronted with a terminal cancer diagnosis, Jay Hopler (1970-2022)--author of the National Book Award-finalist The Abridged History of Rainfall--got to work. The result of that labor is Still Life, a collection of poems that are heartbreaking, terrifying, and deeply, darkly hilarious. In an attempt to find meaning in a life ending right before his eyes, Hopler squares off against monsters real and imagined, personal and historical, and tries not to flinch. This work is no elegy; it's a testament to courage, love, compassion, and the fierceness of the human heart. It's a violently funny but playfully serious fulfillment of what Arseny Tarkovsky called the fundamental purpose of art: a way to prepare for death, be it far in the future or very near at hand.

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Still Life

by Louise Penny, Alex London, Jay Hopler, Sarah Winman

Still Life has been named a best book of the year by NPR and Time magazine. Longlisted for the 2022 National Book Award.
Confronted with a terminal cancer diagnosis, Jay Hopler--author of the National Book Award-finalist The Abridged History of Rainfall--got to work. The result of that labor is Still Life, a collection of poems that are heartbreaking, terrifying, and deeply, darkly hilarious. In an attempt to find meaning in a life ending right before his eyes, Hopler squares off against monsters real and imagined, personal and historical, and tries not to flinch. This work is no elegy; it's a testament to courage, love, compassion, and the fierceness of the human heart. It's a violently funny but playfully serious fulfillment of what Arseny Tarkovsky called the fundamental purpose of art: a way to prepare for death, be it far in the future or very near at hand.

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No copies available.

Still Life

by Louise Penny, Alex London, Jay Hopler, Sarah Winman

“London and Zelinsky have created something unendingly fun but also deeply meaningful: Art takes on a life of its own, no matter how much the artist thinks the work can be controlled!” —Brian Selznick, Caldecott Medal–winning author of The Invention of Hugo Cabret
A still life painting is a painting where everything is supposed to stay still. But what if it doesn’t? Acclaimed author Alex London and Caldecott Medal–winning artist Paul O. Zelinsky bring exquisite life and adventure to this slyly funny and inventive picture book for fans of Christopher Denise’s Knight Owl and Corinna Luyken’s The Book of Mistakes.
Every young artist has drawn or painted a still life scene. Perhaps it is a bowl of fruit, or a toy, or a vase of flowers, or a chair. The only rule is that a still life painting must stay still.
But staying still is hard! Especially for a curious mouse and a hungry dragon and a no-nonsense princess. Will the artist notice that his still life painting is breaking all the rules?
From award-winning author Alex London and Caldecott Medal–winning artist Paul O. Zelinsky, Still Life is a funny, subversive, and clever picture book that brings a painting to wildly imaginative life. Readers will pore over all the silly and surprising details in the illustrations—which tell a story of daring rescues, dashing heroes, and found friends. With its inventive humor, Still Life is for readers of Battle Bunny and David Ezra Stein’s Interrupting Chicken.

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Guardian

by Julius Lester, Alex London

There are times when a tree can no longer withstand the pain inflicted on it, and the wind will take pity on that tree and topple it over in a mighty storm. All the other trees who witnessed the evil look down upon the fallen tree with envy. They pray for the day when a wind will end their suffering.
I pray for the day when God will end mine.
In a time and place without moral conscience, fourteen-year-old Ansel knows what is right and what is true.
But it is dangerous to choose honesty, and so he chooses silence.
Now an innocent man is dead, and Ansel feels the burden of his decision. He must also bear the pain of losing a friend, his family, and the love of a lifetime.
Coretta Scott King Award winner and Newbery Honoree Julius Lester delivers a haunting and poignant novel about what happens when one group of people takes away the humanity of another.

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Guardian

by Julius Lester, Alex London

The pulse-pounding sequel to Proxy! Inspired by The Whipping Boy and Feed, this adrenaline-fueled thriller will appeal to fans of The Maze Runner and Divergent.

Once a proxy, now the figurehead of the Revolution, Syd is a savior to some and a target for others. His bodyguard Liam must protect Syd with his life but armed Machinists aren’t the only danger in the post-Jubilee world. A horrible disease is infecting people and since Guardians are hit first the government does nothing to help. Syd decides it's up to him to find a cure. . . And what he discovers leaves him stunned.

This heart-stopping thriller is packed with volatile action and breathtaking heroics that will have readers racing to its epic conclusion.

“Off-the-charts amazing.” —Marie Lu, New York Times bestselling author of the Legend trilogy

“Nonstop action and breakneck pace characterize this exceptional thriller…thought-provoking and breathtaking.” —VOYA

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Proxy

by Alex London

“Put down what you’re doing and read this book. Right now. The complex characters, intricate world, and blistering pace are off-the-charts amazing.” —Marie Lu, author of the Legend trilogy

Syd’s life is not his own. As a proxy he must to pay for someone else's crimes. When his patron Knox crashes a car and kills someone, Syd is branded and sentenced to death. The boys realize the only way to beat the system is to save each other so they flee. The ensuing cross-country chase will uncover a secret society of rebels, test the boys' resolve, and shine a blinding light onto a world of those who owe and those who pay.
This fast-paced thrill ride of a novel is full of breakneck action, shocking twists and heart-hammering suspense that will have readers gasping until the very last page.

This edition includes a exclusive bonus story featuring Syd and Knox!

“Looking for an awesome YA summer read? Look no further than Alex London’s Proxy.” —EW.com

“Whipping Boy + Blade Runner with a sprinkling of The Hunger Games (plus, of course, a dash of A Tale of Two Cities) = a treat for teen SF fans.” —Kirkus Reviews

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Proxy

by Alex London

The adventure novel of the year! Inspired by The Whipping Boy and Feed, this adrenaline-fueled thriller will appeal to fans of The Hunger Games and Divergent.

Knox was born into one of the City's wealthiest families. A Patron, he has everything a boy could possibly want—the latest tech, the coolest clothes, and a Proxy to take all his punishments. When Knox breaks a vase, Syd is beaten. When Knox plays a practical joke, Syd is forced to haul rocks. And when Knox crashes a car, killing one of his friends, Syd is branded and sentenced to death.

Syd is a Proxy. His life is not his own.

Then again, neither is Knox’s. Knox and Syd have more in common than either would guess. So when Knox and Syd realize that the only way to beat the system is to save each other, they flee. Yet Knox’s father is no ordinary Patron, and Syd is no ordinary Proxy. The ensuing cross-country chase will uncover a secret society of rebels, test both boys’ resolve, and shine a blinding light onto a world of those who owe and those who pay. Some debts, it turns out, cannot be repaid.

A fast-paced, thrill-ride of novel full of non-stop action, heart-hammering suspense and true friendship—just as moving as it is exhilarating. Fans of Anthony Horowitz's Alex Rider series, James Dashner's Maze Runner, Patrick Ness's Chaos Walking series, and Marie Lu's Legend trilogy will be swept away by this story.

Praise for PROXY

“Looking for an awesome YA summer read? Look no further than Alex London’s Proxy.” —EntertainmentWeekly.com

"Put down what you're doing and read this book. Right now. The complex characters, intricate world, and blistering pace are off-the-charts amazing. I fell in love with this story from the first sentence to the final, epic page. London is a force to be reckoned with." —Marie Lu, author of the Legend trilogy

“[A] smart, stylish science-fiction thriller that deftly weaves big issues like guilt, accidents of birth, redemption and commerce into a page-turning read.” —Kirkus Reviews

“A fast-paced dystopian novel which should appeal to readers of the Hunger Games.” —VOYA

"Alex London is one of the most multi-dimensional writers out there. Proxy blew me away. It's deep, thrilling, thought-provoking, and at times simultaneously maddening and uplifting. I need to have more of Syd and Knox. Proxy is one stunning read!" —Andrew Smith, author of Winger and Grasshopper Jungle

“Gripping.” —Examiner.com

“Proxy moves blindingly fast through a world of danger gone viral. It's science-fiction on a joy ride full of deceit and imagination.” —Deseret News

“A big twist and heroic ending will leave readers eager for more” —Shelf Awareness

“Offering intriguing moral dilemmas amid breakneck action…The matter-of-fact presence of a gay lead [Syd] in an action driven story is welcome and overdue.” —Publishers Weekly

“An action-packed thrill ride.” —School Library Journal

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Red Skies Falling (The Skybound Saga, 2)

by Alex London

In Red Skies Falling, Alex London's thrilling sequel to Black Wings Beating, the epic fantasy Skybound Saga continues as twins Kylee and Brysen are separated by the expanse of Uztar, but are preparing for the same war--or so they think.

Kylee is ensconsed in the Sky Castle, training with Mem Uku to master the Hollow Tongue and the Ghost Eagle. But political intrigue abounds and court drama seems to seep through the castle's stones like blood from a broken feather. Meanwhile, Brysen is still in the Six Villages, preparing for an attack by the Kartami. The Villages have become Uztar's first line of defense, and refugees are flooding in from the plains. But their arrival lays bare the villagers' darkest instincts. As Brysen navigates the growing turmoil, he must also grapple with a newfound gift, a burgeoning crush on a mysterious boy, and a shocking betrayal.

The two will meet again on the battlefield, fighting the same war from different sides. But the Ghost Eagle has its own plans.

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City of Speed (Battle Dragons #2)

by Alex London

In a modern mega-city built around dragons, one boy gets caught up in the world of underground dragon battles and a high-stakes gang war that could tear his family apart.

In the city of Drakopolis, dragons and humans have co-existed for centuries. Dragons burn the city's garbage, taxi its busy citizens from place to place, and even compete in vicious underground battles for ganglike kins.
But the dragons also compete in legal sports, like the spectacular aerial races that draw in cheering crowds by the tens of thousands.
Abel is at just such a race when he witnesses the unthinkable. A long-shot competitor pulls off an impossible win -- then flies into a destructive rage! Someone in the city is experimenting on dragons: hacking their DNA, rebuilding their bodies, and breaking their minds. Who could be driving the dragons berserk?
Abel must find out who's behind the experiments and put a stop to them, and to do so he’ll infiltrate the kins’ underground street races on a long-shot dragon of his own. But with his sister working for a kin, his brother serving the city's secret police, and a bully at school racing for Abel's worst enemies, will Abel find any safety past the finish line?

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Black Wings Beating (The Skybound Saga, 1)

by Alex London

In this first young-adult fantasy novel in a trilogy, Alex London launches a soaring saga about the memories that haunt us, the histories that hunt us, and the bonds of blood between us.

The people of Uztar have long looked to the sky with hope and wonder. Nothing in their world is more revered than the birds of prey and no one more honored than the falconers who call them to their fists.

Brysen strives to be a great falconer―while his twin sister, Kylee, rejects her ancient gifts for the sport and wishes to be free of falconry. She’s nearly made it out, too, but a war is rolling toward their home in the Six Villages, and no bird or falconer will be safe.

Together the twins must journey into the treacherous mountains to trap the Ghost Eagle, the greatest of the Uztari birds and a solitary killer. Brysen goes for the boy he loves and the glory he's long craved, and Kylee to atone for her past and to protect her brother's future. But both are hunted by those who seek one thing: power.

Praise for Black Wings Beating:

*An NBC Today Show Book Club Pick!*
*A Seventeen Magazine Best YA Book of 2018!*
*A Kirkus Best YA Fantasy Book of the Year*
*A We Need Diverse Books 2018 Must-Read*

"Epic thrills, heart-punching romance, and a marvel of a hero." ―Adam Silvera, New York Times-bestselling author of They Both Die at the End

"Black Wings Beating gives us irresistible, complex characters in a propulsive, adventure-filled story, pulling off the rare trick of leaving its readers satisfied but undeniably excited for a second volume." ―NBC's Today Show

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Black Wings Beating (The Skybound Saga, 1)

by Alex London

*An NBC Today Show Book Club Pick!*
*A Seventeen Magazine Best YA Book of 2018!*
*A Kirkus Best YA Fantasy Book of the Year*
*A We Need Diverse Books 2018 Must-Read*

"Epic thrills, heart-punching romance, and a marvel of a hero" --Adam Silvera, New York Times-bestselling author of They Both Die at the End

The people of Uztar have long looked to the sky with hope and wonder. Nothing in their world is more revered than the birds of prey and no one more honored than the falconers who call them to their fists.

Brysen strives to be a great falconer―while his twin sister, Kylee, rejects her ancient gifts for the sport and wishes to be free of falconry. She’s nearly made it out, too, but a war is rolling toward their home in the Six Villages, and no bird or falconer will be safe.

Together the twins must journey into the treacherous mountains to trap the Ghost Eagle, the greatest of the Uztari birds and a solitary killer. Brysen goes for the boy he loves and the glory he's long craved, and Kylee to atone for her past and to protect her brother's future. But both are hunted by those who seek one thing: power.

In this first young-adult fantasy novel in a trilogy, Alex London launches a soaring saga about the memories that haunt us, the histories that hunt us, and the bonds of blood between us.

Copies

No copies available.