Stellar Woods

About the Book

    Fourteen year old Tom, and his thirteen year old sister Katie, leave their lifelong friends and move to a new city with worries about loneliness and boredom. But just before Tom and Katie leave town, a friend hands them two strange gifts. An apparently ordinary pair of rocks taken from an area where they often hiked and climbed together, these gifts turn out to have perplexing and powerful properties. The rocks ultimately play a key role in helping the teenagers resolve worries and restore self-confidence as they fall into an adventure that begins in a densely wooded forest behind their new house.
    Following a trail into the forest locally known as Stellar Woods, Tom and Katie stumble across an old and partially buried brass plaque, etched with a cryptic poem that compels them to explore the forest for clues to the meaning of the words. They get help and encouragement from an unlikely new friend - a retired astronomer and reclusive university professor who lives in Stellar Woods. But even the professor cannot explain a bizarre phenomenon in the forest that ultimately leads the teenagers into both danger and fulfillment.
    One afternoon, Tom and Katie hike deep into the forest in order to pursue a particularly promising clue. They pinpoint a single large tree that they had seen mysteriously glowing in the darkness the night before. There they discover a special synergy between a large stone within the hollow trunk of the tree and the gift-rocks from their hometown friends. Carefully fitting the stones together, first Tom, and then Katie, are eerily transformed and disappear from the forest. They fail to return home that night.
    The teenagers find themselves in a faraway but strangely familiar environment where they are reunited with their friends, but under life-threatening circumstances. Tom and Katie must make a difficult rescue and somehow get word to their parents, who, with the professor, are searching Stellar Woods and beginning to fear the worst.
    After a dramatic rescue and an uneasy telephone call home, Tom and Katie make plans to return, but one more hurdle appears. Katie begins to experience a strange and potentially lethal side effect of her unconventional journey. Compelled by the urgency of the situation, Tom is able to overcome doubts about his own ability to make decisions in the face of ambiguity. Under enormous pressure, by quick and clear thinking, Tom takes decisive action, saving his sisterÕs life and returning them both safely home.

For more information about Stellar Woods please visit www.stellarwoods.com

About the Author

    Don Thompson is a new author who is writing a series of adventure books for pre-teens beginning with Stellar Woods. These books are set in current times and ordinary places, but each involves extraordinary events that defy conventional explanation.
    Don moved into the world of fiction following a twenty seven year career in computer software development, and is thoroughly enjoying the change. He also enjoys music, hiking, and boating in the Puget Sound. He lives with his wife, two children, a dog, a cat, four fish and a frog in Woodinville Washington on the edge of a mysterious forest.