Books with author Ben Whitehouse

There's no place like home.For Princess Miya Black 'home' is Clover Island, a tiny dot of a place not even named on most maps. Founded fifteen years ago by her parents, ex-pirate Tomas "Boots" Black and ex-princess Lilith "Lily" Brightburn, it's a place for second chances and new beginnings. It's there that Miya was born, there she grew up, and there she now lives, spending her days riding with her best friend, practising swordsmanship with her fake uncle, sailing with her father, and avoiding book lessons with her mother. To Miya it's the best place in the entire world, and she knows how lucky she is to have it.So when her home is threatened Miya doesn't just sit around sulking. She's the princess of Clover Island, with the blood of pirate legends running through her veins, and she'll do whatever it takes to protect her kingdom."Adventure Dawns" is the first book in the Miya Black, Pirate Princess series.

Life is either a daring adventure or nothing. ...and although Miya Black wouldn't call her current life 'nothing', it certainly isn't anything close to an adventure. Half a year has passed since Badger Pete's attack, and life has returned to normal on Clover Island - rather TOO normal, at least as far as a certain Pirate Princess is concerned. There are no terrible monsters to vanquish, no great and obvious wrongs to right, just everyday problems with everyday solutions and a lot of cleaning up. To put it bluntly Miya is bored, and being grounded doesn't help at all. But dark clouds are gathering against the tiny kingdom, old enemies are stirring, and Miya may come to regret ever wishing for adventure..."Freedom & Responsibility" is the second volume in the Miya Black, Pirate Princess series.

The mysterious town doesn't seem to have a name. That's part of what makes it mysterious, maybe. I mean I don't know. I'm just guessing. None of the Treasure Guardians have thought to name it, although Candy Stocking has whole notebooks full of observations about the town, and Liquorice Cupcake has drawn hundreds of pictures of the streets and views and monsters and everything, and Trouble Fox has explored pretty much everywhere even if getting her to talk about anything is a chore and a half, and Clover Pirate has battled monsters all over the place, and Obviously Lemonade and Peppermint Star have been around for longer than anyone else, apart from Mrs Hoot and Mistress Tabitha Maybenot of course, so I guess they know a lot about the place, the town I mean, and if there's a secret candy gathering point in the town that Choral Singalong doesn't know about then, well, I don't know, she's just really good at finding secret candy gathering points, is what I'm saying, and then Flower Turnip, well she mostly just sleeps a lot but she's a nice girl. You'd like her.This new girl, though. What's her story? She doesn't have a special Treasure Guardian weapon and she doesn't have a special Treasure Guardian treasure pouch, she doesn't even have a name. I don't even think she can do any special attacks, although maybe she could use her little teddy bear for something, I don't know, or her red and white striped skin, I've never seen anything like that before, could it be some kind of power? Or is it just a skin condition? I guess we'll find out. Sometime. Maybe. Or maybe not. The thing about this mysterious town is that, yes, it certainly is full of mysteries. But the thing about mysteries is that sometimes they're better left unsolved...

This is the tale of Caitlin, the third Princess of a royal family destined to be absolutely useless, or so she thinks. Upon reaching 'maidenhood' she finds that her destiny is very different and is set on a collision course with the Queen, her mother, who she now discovers is actually a pretty good role for any aspiring 'wicked witches' out in the Queendom.She needs to find her twin brother and claim the throne foe herself.

More than a century ago the world was devastated, but that doesn't matter. Nobody cares about the past, stories from that time are as wildly conflicting as they are ridiculous--when any stories exist at all. There are problems in the here and now that need to be dealt with, bringing the past into things isn't going to help anyone.The fact is that young people all over the world are developing mysterious powers, and the public reactions to these powers are far from positive. Fair enough, you might say. Who wants a young man around who can conjure heat from the palm of his hand? How deeply undesirable is a girl who can bend your emotions to her will? What use, I ask you, is a girl whose very essence crackles with lightning? No use at all, I'd say.As for this so-called 'Mr Fin' and his grand ideals, well, all I can say is that his clothing is of better quality than his plans. Vague allusions to a 'sanctuary' and a 'mysterious and powerful statue' are all very well, but when it comes to solid results I fear you may find him somewhat lacking. Mark my words and mark them well, following one such as him will only lead to tears.All in all, I'd say there's not much you could reasonably expect from a world such as this. Conflict, perhaps. Hardship, certainly. Despair, heartache, loss ...... hope?No, don't be ridiculous. Where could one find hope, in this ruin of an existence?Honestly, I am asking. Where?

"Darkness approaches", they say. I'm forced to laugh--approaches? It's already here! Never mind the potential of another Devastation, never mind these fabled 'second wavers', never mind the disturbing possibility that all of this is nothing but Fate's twisted game, have you heard what's going on in Rosanth? In Pyre? In Crove? Armies gather, inquisitions tear children from families, individually twisted powers arise--and this is not 'approaching', this is happening.Still, I suppose it's not all bad. You do hear tales of families being reunited, of miraculous 'rescues', of those who are even now fighting this darkness ... but really, when the whole world is against you, what can you do? What CAN you do? Why would you keep struggling, when it all seems so hideously inevitable?What could possibly stop you from simply giving up?Why would you keep fighting?

You can't go home again... or so it seems to Miya Black. She's been away from her beloved Clover Island for months now, and she's starting to get just a little bit fed up. Lying kings, psychotic rivals, murderous captains and scheming mercenaries are just the start of her problems, and before she can even think about getting home Miya is going to find out just how low a pirate can get. That's not even the worst of it; now it seems like entire countries are conspiring to keep her from returning to her kingdom.But Miya is nothing if not determined. She'll get back to Clover Island even if she has to fight through an entire army to do so.Which is just as well, really ..."This Impossible World, This Impossible Girl" is the fourth volume in the Miya Black, Pirate Princess series.

Home is more than just a place.Half a year ago Princess Miya Black was forced away from her kingdom. Since then she's endured indignity, pain, and enough suffering to last a lifetime. Now, finally, it seems that her long journey might be at an end. There's a shipful of mercenaries and a worldful of machinations between Miya and her island, but now that she's this close she isn't going to let anything stand in her way--but what's waiting for her on Clover Island isn't anything she came near to expecting.Elsewhere in the world history marches on, allegedly unstoppable. Spirea's war edges closer to the south with every passing day. As Al-Rhal falls Amicia sharpens its swords, while the ancient nation of Jade shrinks ever-deeper into isolation. Algernon attempts to unite itself in preparation for the increasingly inevitable, while the Highland struggles to find any kind of concordance between its dozens of fractured kingdoms. But from chaos and desperation an idea is born ...... an idea that could change the world ..."Every Glorious Tomorrow" is the fifth volume in the Miya Black, Pirate Princess series.

The Boy's treehouse has seven basements and a crow's nest with a telescope, and a spiral slide that goes from the top of the tree to the bottom.Little Witch's house is tall and thin and painted pink and purple, and it sits on top of a giant mushroom that smells like used teabags.The Boy and Little Witch meet almost every day to trade lunches and talk and go wandering, to So Long Beach or Two Big Rocks, or to visit Cliff Face or Mr River. Sometimes they annoy each other or have disagreements, or Little Witch argues at The Boy while he sits and smiles, but they're best friends, and nothing can change that.But there's something wrong happening deep in the heart of Oubliette Island, and even the outskirts have been touched. Though it means abandoning comfort and journeying through lands unknown (or perhaps just forgotten), The Boy and Little Witch set out to retrieve what was taken from them - and to find that which is most precious.

Not going home is already like death.Miya Black has been through a lot. Framed for a murder she didn't commit, spirited away to a hostile country, pursued by enemies both personal and impersonal, betrayed and left to die by a girl she thought was her friend.It's going to get worse before it gets better.Miya's 'death' is just the start of her troubles. She has to get home, she has to stop the evil and irritating King Trugood, she has to track down the girl who betrayed her and her crew - and she has to decide what she's going to do once she finds her.But before Miya can do any of that, she has to figure out how she's going to get off this island..."Fractured Lives" is the third volume in the Miya Black, Pirate Princess series.

This is Bright Battle. It is not a place where your hand will be held or your failings compensated for. It is not a place for the weak, or the subversive, or the different. This is Bright Battle, where champions are forged and legends begin.Dwarfs? Once they were part of the great alliance. They helped build this very academy. But they were so stubborn, so unyielding, so unwilling to bend themselves to the rules. And so they weakened, and so they declined, and so their empires faded. What few that are left shun the academy. We have no dwarfs here.Rogues? Perhaps a handful in the sprawl, hiding in the shadows, hoarding their merits, hoping to buy a promotion to something remotely useful, ninja or assassin perhaps. But in the academy proper? No. We have no rogues here.And yet despite everything here she stands. Nala Greyward, Dwarf Rogue. Pettiest of thieves. Unpleasantest of surprises. Causer of problems.So she killed an ogre. So nobody knows how she did it. So what. Throw her in with the real prospects, with the elves and the vampires and the fighters and the magic users. See how she does in that environment--see just how long it is, before the problem that is Nala Greyward solves itself.This is Bright Battle.Good luck.