About The Book
An Upside-Down Beanstalk Adventure
What if jack didn't climb up the beanstalk?
Beanstalk: Descent into Ondergrondse turns the familiar Jack-and-the-Beanstalk idea upside down. Jackie is the new kid in town, still adjusting to another move, when his dog Ollie disappears near a mysterious hole created by an astonishingly fast-growing vine. Jackie and Pete, the lonely boy who has befriended him, go after the dog and are swept downward into Ondergrondse.
The hidden kingdom is divided into four provinces: Fairiehaven, Gnomestead, Meadowood, and Ogreville. There the boys meet fairies, a persuasive gnome named Uther, Princess Aliana, and dangerous forces gathering around her future. An ancient prophecy says Aliana must remain unmarried until her eighteenth birthday to become the rightful queen. If someone marries her first, that person can seize control of the kingdom.
Jackie and Pete soon discover that finding Ollie was never the real reason they were brought below. Their task is to convince Aliana to leave Ondergrondse and take refuge in their Connecticut home, known below as Upworld. Before they can succeed, the princess is abducted, pushing the boys into a rescue filled with a haunted forest, a treacherous rope bridge, a maze, giant spiders, an old castle, and unexpected allies.
At its heart, the book is an adventure about courage, friendship, prejudice, responsibility, and becoming more capable than you believed possible.