Books with author S. J. Dudley

Linda Peters has always run for the love of it, for the desire to be fast. Now she runs because there might be something special at the end of the trail. Something with wings, a smile and a touch of magic. But every time she puts on her running shoes and heads into the hills, a new obstacle—of mundane and extraordinary varieties—stops her. Can she find what she feels in her heart lies at the end of the trail—before her life turns hectic with school and the demands of growing up? And will her cousin, Nugu, set aside his books and really see the things roaming the Elf Hills? Because sometimes the story is right in your own back yard, if only you believe. Elf Hills is a new fairy tale set in the Coastal range of Northern California appropriate for readers of all ages (read myself, 9 and up). Girls will love Linda and her precocious running talent and doggedness. Boys, too, will enjoy Linda’s tom-boy antics and appreciate Nugu’s dream to ride a dragon (yes, a real dragon!). This is the exciting first book of a promising new children’s fantasy-adventure series from author S. S. Dudley.

Something strange, something magical, is going on in the dusty hills behind the small town of Villaloma. Yet each time Linda Peters puts on her running shoes and sets out to find the enchanted kingdom she imagines—full of dancing elves, unicorns, and more—something stops her. And with school starting soon, she only has a few more chances to really search the hills. While Linda’s frustration and doubt grow, her cousin, Nugu, looks for answers in his books and wonders if maybe, just maybe, Linda’s stories are real. The day finally arrives when Linda can run far, the day she is sure she will find her magic city. But when she and Nugu feel their goal must lie just beyond the next hill, they only find more hill. Is it all a figment of an over-active imagination; a wistful fantasy? Or is there truly something magical in those hills that only the strong of heart—and leg—can discover?