See that girl, the one with the bright red hair, overstuffed backpack, and aura of grumpiness? That's Charlotte Mielswetzski. And something extra-ordinary is about to happen to her.Oh, it's not the very cute kitten that appears out of nowhere and demands to go home with her. It's not the sudden arrival of her cousin Zee, who believes he's the cause of a mysterious sickness that has struck his friends back in England. It's not her creepy English teacher Mr. Metos, who takes his mythology lessons just a little too seriously. And it's not the white-faced, yellow-eyed men in tuxedoes, who follow Charlotte everywhere. What's so extraordinary is not any one of these things....It's all of them. And when Charlotte's friends start to get sick one by one, Charlotte and Zee set out to find a cure. Their quest leads them to a not-so-mythical Underworld, where they face rhyme-loving Harpies, gods with personnel problems, and ghosts with a thirst for blood. Charlotte and Zee learn that in a world overrun by Nightmares, Pain, and Death, the really dangerous character is a guy named Phil. And then they discover that the fate of every person—living and dead—is in their young hands. In her dazzling debut for young readers, Anne Ursu weaves a tale of myth and adventure, danger and magic that will keep readers engrossed until the very last secret is revealed.

Inside an ordinary middle school in an ordinary city, a small redheaded eighth grader is doing something very ordinary, indeed. Ever since Charlotte Mielswetzski and her cousin, Zee, saved the world, life has been rather ordinary. Ordinary, that is, if you call being ultramegagrounded (in Charlotte's case) or treated as if you might fall to pieces (in Zee's case) ordinary. Either way, heroes deserve better. Of course, no one knows Charlotte and Zee are heroes. It's not like they can simply announce that Greek myths are real or proclaim they have returned from the Underworld, where they rescued all of mankind from Philonecron, a deranged demigod with delusions of grandeur. Instead, they are forced to keep this terrible knowledge to themselves, and are stuck in a state of extraordinary ordinariness. But things aren't quite as ordinary as they seem. For Philonecron is the grandson of Poseidon, and you don't mess with the progeny of the second most powerful god in the universe. And Philonecron himself isn't so happy about having all of his delicious plans thwarted by mortal children. He wants revenge, and with his grandfather to help him, he is going to get what he wants. For Charlotte and Zee, their not-so-ordinary lives are about to be disrupted once again. This time it's not the world they must save—it's themselves. In the thrilling second installment of the Cronus Chronicles trilogy, author Anne Ursu brings her trademark wit to a spectacular adventure on the high seas.

After their near-fatal battle with Poseidon, Charlotte and Zee would love nothing more than to relax and forget all over again that the Greek gods are real. But with the world in peril and no one else to save it, that just isn't an option. Charlotte and Zee meet the Prometheans, an ancient brotherhood trying to protect mankind from the gods, who have finally found a weapon capable of bringing Zeus to his knees. But using it will come at a great cost, one Charlotte and Zee are not willing to pay. They strike out on their own for Mount Olympus, with the Prometheans, an angry Chimera, and all sorts of mythological beings on their tail...