Skulduggery Pleasant

Landry, D. (2007). Skulduggery Pleasant. New York: Harper Collins.

Years ago Skulduggery Pleasant was a mage involved in a war. When he died, he brought himself back to life and swore to protect everyone from Serpine. Stephanie's uncle has just died and left her everything, including something that people are willing to kill for. Skulduggery steps in to save her and they end up working together to find who murdered her uncle and where the Scepter of the Ancients may be hidden. But as they search, they learn that Serpine is behind everything and wants the Sceptre so that he can attack the Sanctuary and use the Book of Names to rule the world. Skulduggery and Stephanie must battle him to protect the world.

This is the first book in a series and was very hard to find. The name was changed to The
Sceptre of the Ancients several years ago when it was released in paperback. I am a fantasy person and this book was great for me. It had all the magical elements that I love, as well as adventure. I see this as good stepping stone for my students who had gone through all the Rick Riordan books and need something new. I have several copies on order from Amazon!