Armored Bears, Daemons, Dangerous Substances, Familiars (Spirits), Fantasy Adventure, Friendship, Parallel Worlds, Shapeshifters, Witch Clans 

His Dark Materials - Book I 

***** Includes a preview of THE BOOK OF DUST, the long-awaited new novel from Philip Pullman set in the world of His Dark Materials, and hailed by the New York Times as "A stunning achievement"*****The modern fantasy classic that Entertainment Weekly named an “All-Time Greatest Novel” and Newsweek hailed as a “Top 100 Book of All Time.” Philip Pullman takes readers to a world where humans have animal familiars and where parallel universes are within reach.Lyra is rushing to the cold, far North, where witch clans and armored bears rule. North, where the Gobblers take the children they steal--including her friend Roger. North, where her fearsome uncle Asriel is trying to build a bridge to a parallel world.Can one small girl make a difference in such great and terrible endeavors? This is Lyra: a savage, a schemer, a liar, and as fierce and true a champion as Roger or Asriel could want.But what Lyra doesn't know is that to help on of them will be to betray the other...A masterwork of storytelling and suspense, Philip Pullman's award-winning The Golden Compass is the first in the His Dark Materials series, which continues with The Subtle Knife and The Amber Spyglass.A #1 New York Times BestsellerWinner of the Guardian Prize for Children's FictionPublished in 40 Countries"Arguably the best juvenile fantasy novel of the past twenty years." --The Washington Post "Very grand indeed." --The New York Times"Pullman is quite possibly a genius." --Newsweek - from Amzon