Fablehaven stars Kendra and Seth, two children who are sent to stay with their grandparents for part of their summer vacation while their parents are away. When they arrive on their grandfather's enormous property, he leaves them with a puzzle and a warning to stay out of the woods. Kendra focuses on solving the puzzle while Seth breaks the rules and enters the forest, and together they discover that their grandfather's land is actually a preserve for magical creatures like fairies, satyrs, and witches.

 

Fablehaven has been compared to Harry Potter; both have children discover that there is a magic hidden from most people. However, the two series aren't really that similar. Fablehaven follows both children equally, even while they are apart, though the story focuses more on Kendra towards the end. Seth is actually the cause of most of the trouble in the book, while Kendra, her grandparents, and their housekeeper try to fix his mistake.

 

The story is open for sequels, but doesn't end on a cliffhanger. There is much more of Fablehaven that can be explored, and the book has several sequels already. The story is fun and has some surprising twists, and I can recommend it to people interested in fantasy.

Photography by Jaime Sabonya