After taking his new snowboard for a ride in the mountains of Colorado, Peter Bailey is stunned to find himself in Transadonia – a hidden world that coexists alongside with the Earth.
Peter soon learns that the shiny, new snowboard was crafted especially for him by the smiths of Transadonia. Now, Peter’s help is needed to defeat the evil mastermind who is threatening the freedom of Transadonia’s magical inhabitants. Just why has Peter been chosen for this daunting task, and does he have the mettle to complete it?
Lara Grover never listened to her elders, so warnings like “do not talk to strangers” mean nothing to her. When a boy from an unknown world saves her from an avalanche with the aid of a snow dragon, Lara is not stunned in the least. Instead, she joins Peter on his quest to help him realize the purpose behind his arrival to Transadonia.
Together, Lara and Peter embark on an adventure filled with perils, trickery, betrayals, and unexpected alliances.
What the Readers are Saying:
“A truly magical read that will transport you to a world you will not want to leave.”
“Aside from the thrilling magical and adventure elements, the novel addresses such timeless issues as honor, belief in oneself, and the timeless question of right vs. wrong.”
“An imaginative and endearing read. Loved the imagery and the breathtaking adventures that Peter and Lara embarked on.”
“One of the most delightful fantasies I have read in a long time.”
“The author gives a wonderful description of the world of Transadonia. There are mermaids,giants, witches, along with creatures of the author’s creation: Book Brownies – a special kind of Brownies who live in the Library and serve as guardians of the book of wisdom, Epistemon, Aerolis – tiny human-like creatures with wings, and many more. And there is the evil Carnelion and his cohorts who aid him in weaving a web of lies and deceit in his attempt to usurp power over Transadonians.”
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Read an Excerpt from Over the Mountain
When Peter walked into the store, his eyes immediately darted to the glossy display of newly arrived snowboards propped against the wall. In the center of the display stood a beautiful snowboard painted in bright neon colors with a sign underneath: The unbeatable Jamie Fox rode this snowboard when he won last year’s Snow Rider competition. Ask the store owner how you can ride Jamie’s board.“Peter could not turn his gaze away from the magnificent snowboard. How amazing it must be to ride a board like that, he thought, reaching out to touch the brightly colored plastic surface. Suddenly, his reverie was rudely interrupted.
“What have we here? Peter Bailey wants to ride my board?” sounded a mocking voice from behind.
Even without turning around, Peter knew that the sneering voice belonged to none other than Jamie himself – the reigning champion of the Snow Rider competition for the past five years. Jamie’s father owned the ski resort, and it was largely argued that it was not Jamie’s prowess, but his father’s connections that ensured Jamie’s unchallenged success.
“Hi, Jamie.” Peter nodded curtly.
As usual, Jamie was surrounded by a posse of boys who were willing to put up with his bullying in exchange for free lift passes and other perks that his father could provide. Today, though, someone else was with them: Beverly Nooner, the most popular girl in school. Beverly’s blond curls and blue eyes drew wistful glances from all the boys in the school, yet most would not dare so much as speak to her since Beverly was Jamie’s girl, and no one wanted to challenge Jamie. For her part, Beverly enjoyed the attention fully and used it to her advantage. She was in the same class with Peter and had copied his math homework on several occasions, but now she averted her eyes, pretending that she did not know who he was.
“Planning to ride in the competition?” Jamie smirked.
“As a matter of fact, yes,” answered Peter, determined not to let Jamie’s mockery get to him. Deep down he knew that Jamie would never go beyond verbal assaults, and Peter was not going to give him the satisfaction.
“I wouldn’t if I were you,” said Jamie smugly. “The board I’ll be riding is even better than the one you’ve been ogling. You don’t stand a chance.” This statement was accompanied by cheering from Jamie’s gang.
“It’s not just about the board, Jamie. It’s the riding skills that matter,” replied Peter calmly. “And if I were you, I’d spend more time practicing and less talking, or your lucky streak just might run out.”
At the sound of Peter’s words, Jamie’s clique began to hoot, but Jamie silenced them with a snap of his fingers.
“If I were you, I’d keep an eye out tomorrow, or things might just end badly for you,” hissed Jamie, his face contorted in an ugly grimace. “Let’s get out of here,” he called to his gang. Grabbing Beverly’s arm, Jamie shoved past Peter toward the exit, almost knocking him down to the floor.
“Are you all right there, Peter?” asked Jasper. “We are understaffed today, and I was busy in the back when I heard those bums. I came out as soon as I could, but I see they are gone now. If it weren’t for that boy’s father, I swear he wouldn’t dare say half the things he does,” grumbled the store owner.
Peter shrugged his shoulders. He wasn’t particularly disposed to discuss Jamie’s insults with Jasper.
“So, how can I help you?” asked Jasper, looking at Peter keenly.
“My snowboard broke in half yesterday, and I was hoping I could rent one from you,” said Peter. He had been training for the Snow Rider competition since the beginning of winter. His snowboard was old and ragged from all the skating it had endured, but even so, he was able to ride better than most and would have been content to ride his old snowboard at the competition if it had not fallen apart at the last minute. During practice yesterday, Peter kept pushing himself to brave one of the highest jumps he had ever attempted. His intention was to use the extra time in the air to add another flip to his routine, but unfortunately, he overestimated himself and came crashing down. Luckily, he wasn’t hurt, but his snowboard was split in two and now lay ruined in the shed. Asking his mother for a new board was out of the question, and he hoped that he could find an affordable replacement in time for the competition, which was only two days away.
“I’m sorry, pal, but all the rentals are gone. It’s just gotten busy after weeks of slowdown. This is the only decent snowfall we’ve had since the beginning of the winter, and this weekend we had a flood of out-of-towners clean up all our rentals. All I have are the new models over there by the wall, and I can’t let you have one unless you can pay for it in full.”
Peter took one look at the prices of the new snowboards and knew at once that he could not afford one. Even if he saved his allowance for a year, it would not be enough to buy one of those flashy snowboards. If it were Jasper’s younger brother, Oliver, watching the store that day, Peter might have been able to talk him into lending him a board for tomorrow’s competition; after all, he would only need it for a few hours. As things were, there was no hope of getting one from Jasper. Jasper was not mean-spirited, but he was old enough to understand the realities of running a snowboard shop and, unlike his younger brother, Jasper was much more concerned with the meager profits that the store had been turning out for the past two years due to unusually warm winters. What Peter did not know was that Jamie’s father also owned the store lease and had recently upped the rent, which Jasper was having a hard time paying.
At the sight of the crestfallen look on Peter’s face, Jasper rubbed his chin uneasily.
“Look here Peter, I know you are a good rider and you could easily beat that Jamie fellow. I’ve seen you turn out tricks that would put him to shame, but the fact is we are running a store here, and I can’t give you one of these boards for free. Well, don’t look so downcast. I said I couldn’t give you one of these boards, but there is something else… Just wait here a minute,” said Jasper and went into the back of the store.
He returned with a shimmering silver snowboard in his hands. The aggressive cut and shape of the board was unlike any snowboard that Peter had ever seen, and he assumed that it must be a new model that he had not heard of before.
“Wow!” gasped Peter, unable to contain his amazement. “You’re going to let me ride this?”
“That is if you can you can ride it, pal,” replied Jasper. Noticing Peter’s questioning stare, he continued, “Five different customers bought this board, and all returned it – no one could ride it! They claimed that the minute they got on the board, it would not glide, and no matter how hard they tried, it would not budge. The funny thing is that the snowboard does look like it’s never touched the snow…”
“Where did you get it from?” Peter asked, enthralled by Jasper’s story.
“I found it outside the store the day the new shipment came in and assumed that it was part of it. I didn’t give it another thought until all the complaints started coming in, and then I pulled up the paperwork and guess what – it wasn’t in it! So I say, if you can ride it, it’s yours.” And with that Jasper thrust the snowboard into Peter’s hands.
The snowboard was made from some unknown material that looked like mercury and had an appearance of being liquid, but when Peter touched the board’s surface, he was stunned to discover that it was perfectly solid. In Peter’s hands, the snowboard felt sturdy and light, and its edges were so aggressively cut that they seemed capable of providing traction even on sheer ice.
As Peter touched the silvery surface, a strange sensation ran through him; it was a sense of wonder mixed with a foreboding of a great change.
Then the most unbelievable thing happened. For an instant, the snowboard glowed with a flash of blue light. It all happened so quickly that for a moment Peter was tempted to think that he had imagined the entire thing, but he knew what he saw, and he could not wait to get to the bottom of it.
“Thanks, Jasper,” said Peter, doing his best to keep his voice casual. “I’d better go and get some practice now – only one day left until the competition.”
Jasper did not see the flash since he was busy rearranging the snowboard display and his back had been turned toward Peter.
“Good luck.” Jasper smiled. “I hope you’ll be able to ride it.”
Me too, thought Peter, as he left the store, clutching the silver board under his arm.”
“What have we here? Peter Bailey wants to ride my board?” sounded a mocking voice from behind.
Even without turning around, Peter knew that the sneering voice belonged to none other than Jamie himself – the reigning champion of the Snow Rider competition for the past five years. Jamie’s father owned the ski resort, and it was largely argued that it was not Jamie’s prowess, but his father’s connections that ensured Jamie’s unchallenged success.
“Hi, Jamie.” Peter nodded curtly.
As usual, Jamie was surrounded by a posse of boys who were willing to put up with his bullying in exchange for free lift passes and other perks that his father could provide. Today, though, someone else was with them: Beverly Nooner, the most popular girl in school. Beverly’s blond curls and blue eyes drew wistful glances from all the boys in the school, yet most would not dare so much as speak to her since Beverly was Jamie’s girl, and no one wanted to challenge Jamie. For her part, Beverly enjoyed the attention fully and used it to her advantage. She was in the same class with Peter and had copied his math homework on several occasions, but now she averted her eyes, pretending that she did not know who he was.
“Planning to ride in the competition?” Jamie smirked.
“As a matter of fact, yes,” answered Peter, determined not to let Jamie’s mockery get to him. Deep down he knew that Jamie would never go beyond verbal assaults, and Peter was not going to give him the satisfaction.
“I wouldn’t if I were you,” said Jamie smugly. “The board I’ll be riding is even better than the one you’ve been ogling. You don’t stand a chance.” This statement was accompanied by cheering from Jamie’s gang.
“It’s not just about the board, Jamie. It’s the riding skills that matter,” replied Peter calmly. “And if I were you, I’d spend more time practicing and less talking, or your lucky streak just might run out.”
At the sound of Peter’s words, Jamie’s clique began to hoot, but Jamie silenced them with a snap of his fingers.
“If I were you, I’d keep an eye out tomorrow, or things might just end badly for you,” hissed Jamie, his face contorted in an ugly grimace. “Let’s get out of here,” he called to his gang. Grabbing Beverly’s arm, Jamie shoved past Peter toward the exit, almost knocking him down to the floor.
“Are you all right there, Peter?” asked Jasper. “We are understaffed today, and I was busy in the back when I heard those bums. I came out as soon as I could, but I see they are gone now. If it weren’t for that boy’s father, I swear he wouldn’t dare say half the things he does,” grumbled the store owner.
Peter shrugged his shoulders. He wasn’t particularly disposed to discuss Jamie’s insults with Jasper.
“So, how can I help you?” asked Jasper, looking at Peter keenly.
“My snowboard broke in half yesterday, and I was hoping I could rent one from you,” said Peter. He had been training for the Snow Rider competition since the beginning of winter. His snowboard was old and ragged from all the skating it had endured, but even so, he was able to ride better than most and would have been content to ride his old snowboard at the competition if it had not fallen apart at the last minute. During practice yesterday, Peter kept pushing himself to brave one of the highest jumps he had ever attempted. His intention was to use the extra time in the air to add another flip to his routine, but unfortunately, he overestimated himself and came crashing down. Luckily, he wasn’t hurt, but his snowboard was split in two and now lay ruined in the shed. Asking his mother for a new board was out of the question, and he hoped that he could find an affordable replacement in time for the competition, which was only two days away.
“I’m sorry, pal, but all the rentals are gone. It’s just gotten busy after weeks of slowdown. This is the only decent snowfall we’ve had since the beginning of the winter, and this weekend we had a flood of out-of-towners clean up all our rentals. All I have are the new models over there by the wall, and I can’t let you have one unless you can pay for it in full.”
Peter took one look at the prices of the new snowboards and knew at once that he could not afford one. Even if he saved his allowance for a year, it would not be enough to buy one of those flashy snowboards. If it were Jasper’s younger brother, Oliver, watching the store that day, Peter might have been able to talk him into lending him a board for tomorrow’s competition; after all, he would only need it for a few hours. As things were, there was no hope of getting one from Jasper. Jasper was not mean-spirited, but he was old enough to understand the realities of running a snowboard shop and, unlike his younger brother, Jasper was much more concerned with the meager profits that the store had been turning out for the past two years due to unusually warm winters. What Peter did not know was that Jamie’s father also owned the store lease and had recently upped the rent, which Jasper was having a hard time paying.
At the sight of the crestfallen look on Peter’s face, Jasper rubbed his chin uneasily.
“Look here Peter, I know you are a good rider and you could easily beat that Jamie fellow. I’ve seen you turn out tricks that would put him to shame, but the fact is we are running a store here, and I can’t give you one of these boards for free. Well, don’t look so downcast. I said I couldn’t give you one of these boards, but there is something else… Just wait here a minute,” said Jasper and went into the back of the store.
He returned with a shimmering silver snowboard in his hands. The aggressive cut and shape of the board was unlike any snowboard that Peter had ever seen, and he assumed that it must be a new model that he had not heard of before.
“Wow!” gasped Peter, unable to contain his amazement. “You’re going to let me ride this?”
“That is if you can you can ride it, pal,” replied Jasper. Noticing Peter’s questioning stare, he continued, “Five different customers bought this board, and all returned it – no one could ride it! They claimed that the minute they got on the board, it would not glide, and no matter how hard they tried, it would not budge. The funny thing is that the snowboard does look like it’s never touched the snow…”
“Where did you get it from?” Peter asked, enthralled by Jasper’s story.
“I found it outside the store the day the new shipment came in and assumed that it was part of it. I didn’t give it another thought until all the complaints started coming in, and then I pulled up the paperwork and guess what – it wasn’t in it! So I say, if you can ride it, it’s yours.” And with that Jasper thrust the snowboard into Peter’s hands.
The snowboard was made from some unknown material that looked like mercury and had an appearance of being liquid, but when Peter touched the board’s surface, he was stunned to discover that it was perfectly solid. In Peter’s hands, the snowboard felt sturdy and light, and its edges were so aggressively cut that they seemed capable of providing traction even on sheer ice.
As Peter touched the silvery surface, a strange sensation ran through him; it was a sense of wonder mixed with a foreboding of a great change.
Then the most unbelievable thing happened. For an instant, the snowboard glowed with a flash of blue light. It all happened so quickly that for a moment Peter was tempted to think that he had imagined the entire thing, but he knew what he saw, and he could not wait to get to the bottom of it.
“Thanks, Jasper,” said Peter, doing his best to keep his voice casual. “I’d better go and get some practice now – only one day left until the competition.”
Jasper did not see the flash since he was busy rearranging the snowboard display and his back had been turned toward Peter.
“Good luck.” Jasper smiled. “I hope you’ll be able to ride it.”
Me too, thought Peter, as he left the store, clutching the silver board under his arm.”