#5

In her Afterward, Ursula K. LeGuin mentions the difficulty of this novel, and its rewards. I read it seeking unusual and interesting children's lit for middle schoolers; this book is alas too tough for my youngins, and likely for many early teens these days.

But it is marvelously imagined and a joy to read. Young Kay is an orphan living in a grand manse with a horrid governess. Kay is wakened one night by The Midnight Folk, who set him on a series of nocturnal adventures in a quest to restore a long-lost treasure his Grandfather was to carry to safety for South American clerics. Animate toys, traitorous felines, witchcraft, and hidden passages abound. I loved it, and there is thankfully a sequel called "The Christmas Box."