The Divide trilogy


The Divide trilogy is a fantasy young adult novel trilogy by Elizabeth Kay, which takes place in an alternate universe. The three books are The Divide, Back to The Divide, and Jinx on The Divide. The first novel was originally published by the small press publisher Chicken House, with subsequent volumes published by Scholastic, which also reprinted the first novel. The books have been translated into French, German, Spanish, Finnish, Chinese, Japanese, Portuguese, Italian, Romanian and Dutch. Interior illustrations are by Ted Dewan.

''The Divide''

Plot summary

A thirteen-year-old boy, Felix Sanders, has a life-threatening heart condition. While his family is vacationing in Costa Rica at a place called the Divide, the point where water flows to both the Pacific and Atlantic oceans, he passes out and he finds himself in alternate world, where the Earth's mythical creatures are real and humans are a legend. He sets off on a journey with residents of this world to cure his illness and get home. He befriends a certain creature named Betony who is a tangle-child which who later on becomes his lifelong best friend. Along with Betony and a named Ironclaw they help him find a cure for his illness.

''Back to the Divide''

Plot summary

Snakeweed, a character from the first novel who came from the alternate world, wants to return home, but in order to do so, he needs a spell hidden in Felix's notebook. In order to obtain the spell, Snakeweed turns Felix's parents into stone. The curse spreads, and Felix must head back across the Divide to find the counter charm and save the Earth. In this book, old friends return afresh and new enemies are discovered. A crisis almost mirrors the one in the real world in the alternate world: the king and queen are missing. Felix must now race against time in an attempt to rescue BOTH worlds, something not easily done, considering the risks.

''Jinx on the Divide''

Plot summary

A bully, Rhino, at Felix's school accidentally releases a brandee from a lamp Felix obtained from across the Divide. The djinn demands to be returned home and to be given a solid form. Felix and Betony, return to that world. Meanwhile, inside the lamp, Rhino has found a box that will grant him any of his desires, in exchange for hearing Rhino say the magic words that could destroy both worlds.