Books in The ballad of Nick series

The continuing adventure of little rich girl Yaya and her street urchin friend Tuduo as they cross war-torn Shanghai in the wake of the Japanese invasion of 1937 in hopes of finding Yaya’s parents. This nine-volume series chronicles their long journey fraught with perils. The children meet all sorts of people, both friendly and wicked, as they travel toward Hong Kong. Yaya and Tuduo learn many growing lessons along the way, not the least of which is to judge a person on their character, not their social or financial status. The gloom of war, its absurd tragedy, gives way to the incredible capacity of youth to overwhelm grim reality.

The continuing adventure of little rich girl Yaya and her street urchin friend Tuduo as they cross war-torn Shanghai in the wake of the Japanese invasion of 1937 in hopes of finding Yaya’s parents. This nine-volume series chronicles their long journey fraught with perils. The children meet all sorts of people, both friendly and wicked, as they travel toward Hong Kong. Yaya and Tuduo learn many growing lessons along the way, not the least of which is to judge a person on their character, not their social or financial status. The gloom of war, its absurd tragedy, gives way to the incredible capacity of youth to overwhelm grim reality.

"The shadows move, the trees whisper and I'm pretty sure a cat defends the church next door from the Devil - or at least one of his minions." - Nick Stanton Nick gets a pen and is charged with documenting the supernatural world - Mina gets a sword and super powers. Nick does not think this is remotely fair. When Halley's Comet passes through the sky in 1986 the new kid in town - Nick - is partnered up with the strange girl in town - Mina - for a Science project. While observing this sometimes twice in a lifetime event, they learn that there are things that go bump in the night. And that it's their job to hunt them down!

Shanghai, November 1937. Yaya, the eight-year-old daughter of a diamond merchant, lives a life of luxury in the French Concession in Shanghai. Her one great passion is the piano. While she is preparing for an important audition, her father decides that the family must leave town in the face of the imminent Japanese invasion. The evening before all the family is to leave, stubborn Yaya, unaware of the danger, runs away in an attempt to make it to her audition come what may. On the way, in the midst of the crowd fleeing the Japanese offensive, She is caught in a bombardment. She owes her life to Tuduo, a street urchin who discovers her unconscious in the ruins of a house. With his help, Yaya learns that her family fled for Hong Kong without her, and she determines to go join them there right away. Tuduo begins to dream about what his life would be like if Yaya’s parents welcomed him and his little brother into their beautiful home. He decides to go along with Yaya on her long and perilous journey. But before he can do anything, he must escape from the clutches of Zhu, who runs a gang of homeless boys. When Zhu learns that Tuduo’s little protégée is from a very wealthy family, he comes up with a Machiavellian plot to kidnap her and collect a ransom. Tuduo and Yaya barely manage to get away and head off for the south. But Zhu, a heartless outlaw, doesn’t give up so easily and comes after them, driven by his high hopes of cashing in on the ransom scheme. This nine-volume series chronicles their long journey fraught with perils. The children meet all sorts of people, both friendly and wicked, as they travel toward Hong Kong. Yaya and Tuduo are different in every way: social background, character, dreams, and desires. These children learn many growing lessons along the way, not the least of which is to judge a person on their character, not their social or financial status. The gloom of war, its absurd tragedy, gives way to the incredible capacity of youth to overwhelm grim reality. Imagination is the only thing these children have to defend themselves against adults who are like the ogres, evil fairies, or good witches of bedtime tales. Their imagination gives the story a touch of poetry, while humor brings a lighter touch to a story that is steeped in genuine historical tragedy.

Halley’s Comet has come and gone, school’s out for the summer, and Nick still isn’t comfortable with the arrangement of The Pen & the Sword. Mina on the other hand, is becoming even more confident - maybe even reckless. But with everything Nick can do, everything he can see, he still can’t figure out the mind of a teenage girl - let alone the mind of a super powered teenage girl. At odds over how to deal with the events of the past spring and what the future will bring, Nick and Mina find their relationship and their destiny on rocky ground. Nick turns to his friends for distraction and advice and the hope of just living as a normal teenager a little bit longer. Mina turns to the sword wanting to know just how different she is.

In the final chapter of The Ballad of Nick and Mina, the pair have made their way back to each other, and must deal with the aftermath of the events of The Beautiful & the Damned. And start their sophomore year of high school. A new year at Kesley Town High brings new challenges for Mina in particular. She wants a social life. A little bit of one at least. She needs some distraction from the memories that haunt her after what she saw and did over the summer. Left with even less guidance than before, Nick buckles down and pushes himself further than he thought possible. Discovering what he and Mina truly are, Nick knows it will take a great plan and a lot of help to bring down one of the greatest evils the world has ever know.