With memorable characters-especially the irrepressible protagonists, who make a delightful team-and an atmospheric setting, this is a strong series opener. Ritter (the Jackaby series) crafts a well-paced adventure filled with whimsy and peril, in which the bonds of family and love prove stronger than any spell or curse. Together, they must find a way to defeat the monster at the heart of the Oddmire and restore magic to the woods. Soon joining the gathering are the twins’ mother, Annie, and the goblin Kull, who was responsible for leaving behind a changeling when the boys were infants. There, the two encounter hazards aplenty, plus a strange girl named Fable and a terrifying witch, Queen of the Deep Dark. Cole and Tinn are inseparable, neither knowing nor caring which one might be the changeling, but when a mysterious note calls for the changeling’s return, they waste no time in venturing into the danger-infested woods and the swamp known as the Oddmire. In The Oddmire 1: Changeling, the New York Times bestselling author of the Jackaby series brings to life a bold new adventure, the first in a series about monsters, magic, and mayhem.In this charming middle grade fantasy, two nearly 13-year-old boys raised as twins-one a goblin changeling-set out in search of the truth behind their origins. The boys must leave behind their sleepy town of Endsborough and risk their lives in the Wild Wood, crossing the perilous Oddmire swamp and journeying through the Deep Dark to reach the goblin horde and discover who they truly are. Then when they are twelve years old, a mysterious message arrives, calling the brothers to be heroes and protectors of magic.

Tinn and Cole are raised as human twins, neither knowing what secrets may be buried deep inside one of them. Not knowing which to bring back, he leaves both babies behind.

Too perfectly: Kull cannot tell them apart. By the time he turns back, the changeling has already perfectly mimicked the human child. After laying the changeling in a human infant's crib, the goblin Kull is briefly distracted from his task. But when the fateful night arrives to trade a human baby for a goblin one, something goes terribly wrong. To renew it, goblins must perform an ancient ritual involving the rarest of their kind-a newborn changeling. The first book in an action-packed fantasy adventure series featuring witches, shape-shifters, and other creatures of fairytale and folklore, including two brothers-one human and one a goblin changeling-on a life-changing quest into the Oddmire.

Changeling by william ritter